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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712972">The U</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeHoncho/pseuds/MikeHoncho'>MikeHoncho</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The U [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World Wrestling Entertainment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, American Football, Angst, Bi-Curiosity, College, Drinking, Drinking Games, F/F, F/M, Fraternities &amp; Sororities, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Idiots in Love, LGBTQ Female Character, Lesbian Sex, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Love at First Sight, Music, Underage Drinking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:22:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>43,606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeHoncho/pseuds/MikeHoncho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For one unorthodox family, College is a gateway to the Future.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross, Charlotte/Becky Lynch | Rebecca Knox, Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley/Alexa Bliss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The U [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: Pilot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>See body for explanation.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
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</p><p>“The U.”</p><p> </p><p>Pilot.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Disclaimer: It is going to look like I’m borrowing heavily/plagiarizing “Stamford University” for the first little while. I am aware. I was until very recently the Co-Author of that story. A lot of what was written were my ideas to begin with. I’m sure TWFW will say something like ‘The U is simply a cheap knockoff of SU.’ Deep down, he knows who’s copying who. Anyway, this isn’t just a ‘spite story.’ I got a lot of fun stories to tell, starring your WWE, AEW, and wrestling favorites. I’ll try to keep things moving quick, telling episodic stories.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Oh, and all cops are bad. That’s just some free information. Also, we’re starting in Fall of 2018. Last thing, promise; Jaxson Ryker is a giant pile of camel shit. </em>
</p><p>
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  <b> <em>June 2018: Prologue</em> </b>
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</p><p>“Is that everything?” Roman Reigns asked his adopted brother.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I think so,” Dean Ambrose replied. With a nod, Roman slammed the tailgate on the back of his restored Ford Bronco, sighing with finality. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m gonna miss you all,” Roman’s mother exclaimed, a mix of sadness and excitement in her voice. </p><p> </p><p>“I know, ma, but we’ll be back for Thanksgiving. And you guys are coming to games, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Roman’s father, a massive Samoan, nodded resolutely. “We will. The Saturday after Labor Day, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded before Roman could respond. “Yeah. We may not play, but you can still take us to dinner afterward.”</p><p> </p><p>Patricia Reigns, the aforementioned mother of Roman Reigns, let out a sustained chuckle. “I’m just glad your sister is going too. She can take care of the two of you.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered. “Ruby? Take care of us?”</p><p> </p><p>The tattooed young woman who was in the center of this large familial huddle spoke for the first time in an hour or so. “I’ve been taking care of you since we were eleven years old, Dean. Just because we’re leaving home doesn’t mean that’s gonna stop.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean smiled, a genuine, affection grin. Ruby Riott had been a steadfast companion since the pair had first met in a group home for foster children when they were eleven. Dean had always considered her his closest confidante, even as Ruby periodically expressed romantic feelings for him. That was all before Sika and Patricia Reigns had legally adopted both of their oldest foster children, becoming the only real parents either Dean or Ruby had ever really had. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m so proud of all three of you,” Sika offered, as excited as Dean had ever seen him. </p><p> </p><p>“Even me?” Ruby asked, mask of apprehension on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Especially you,” Patricia fired back. “You came to us almost feral. The things you went through before the state took you from your home…” A tear trailed from the woman’s eye as she thought back to all the horrible things the beleaguered social worker had informed her of so many years previous. “I know you feel like a failure because you didn’t get into Stamford like your brothers, but I’m so sure you’ll succeed at the Junior College. It’s just a matter of time until you’re all there together.”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby sighed deeply. “I know it’s not as good as-”</p><p> </p><p>Roman cut the pale young woman off, shaking his head in vehement disagreement. “Considering where your grades were when you came to us, it makes me super proud that you got into the Junior College in New Haven. I’m so, so glad you’ll be near us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Me too,” Dean offered in agreement. “I mean, it’d be better if you got into a school between here and Stamford, instead of us having to drive you further No-OW!” </p><p> </p><p>His playful interjection was interrupted by his adopted sister’s small but angry fist finding the meaty part of his tricep. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t be a dick, Dean. Hopefully in a year I’ll be able to transfer in with you guys. Just try not to bang anyone’s girlfriend or get shot by any pissed-off fathers between now and when I can start looking after you again.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean rubbed his arm and tried to look annoyed, but his heart warmed at the thought of all the times Ruby had looked after him in the past. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll miss having you around all the time, Rube, but you’ll only be an hour away. Less with good traffic.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman started to respond, but a chirp from his iPhone distracted him. “Seth’s almost here, y’all. His mom’s gonna drop him off. Now,” he continued, sliding his device into his back pocket, “who’s riding with who?”</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <b> <em>Late August 2018</em> </b>
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</p><p>“Damn.” Dean scanned the chaos around him from the passenger’s seat of his roommate’s Ford Bronco.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Roman Reigns asked from behind the steering wheel. </p><p> </p><p>“School is definitely in session,” Ambrose gravelled, taking in the scores of co-ed’s all around him.</p><p> </p><p>This was to be expected. The Thursday night before class started was almost always party “ground zero.” Several Greek organizations were hosting “pref” or preferential nights, meaning that the freshmen they really wanted to bid would be invited to a wild party before class was in session and “pledge week” became alcohol-free. </p><p> </p><p>“Did you really just say that? And can you really not scoot any closer to the door?” Seth Rollins, the unfortunate middle seat occupant, asked his longtime friend Ambrose. </p><p> </p><p>“I did. And I meant every word,” Ambrose replied sardonically. “And no I can’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’re almost there, bro,” Roman mentioned, hoping to quelch the budding argument dead in its tracks.</p><p> </p><p>“I have no idea why we’re doing this anyway,” Dean groaned. “We’ve already been here since June, busting our asses playing football. This fraternity stuff is all horseshit for people who need to buy their friends.”</p><p> </p><p>Rollins snickered. “Dean, do we need to remind you of the ancient wisdom of <em> Old School </em> ? The timeless wonder of <em> Animal House </em> ? The masterful, artistic bonanza that was <em> Van Wilder </em>?”</p><p> </p><p>“The original or <em> Rise of Taj </em>?” Ambrose returned, almost before Seth was even finished talking.</p><p> </p><p>“The original, of course. I never even saw that ‘direct to dvd’ bullshit.”</p><p> </p><p>Seth glanced over at his friend, who was shaking his head sarcastically. </p><p> </p><p>“Motherfucker, I cannot believe you just invoked the holy trinity to get me through these ‘pref’ parties or whatever the fuck they’re called. You know I love all those movies.”</p><p> </p><p>“I do,” Seth agreed, “and I fully intend to use that love against you.”</p><p> </p><p>Reigns snickered, listening to his two best friends gripe like they always did. “We’re almost there. I’m gonna slide in the next parking spot I can find and we’ll walk. It looks like all these houses are in a group, anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable. I cannot believe I let you dicks talk me into this.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’ll be good for you to be around people that aren’t trying to murder you, Dean,” Rollins asserted.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck that. At least I know how to deal with angry linemen. This shit is cruel and unusual.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman, somewhat oblivious as to the conversation in his car, began the process of parallel parking his throwback vehicle just a few yards from their ultimate destination. Throwing the car into “park” as his tires kissed the sidewalk, Reigns leaned in, looking past Rollins to Ambrose.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, let’s just try the two houses the guys were telling us about. Lambda Chi and Kappa Delta. We go through, drink some free alcohol, maybe meet some of those cheerleaders Dean has been trying to get the time of day from all summer, and if we aren’t having fun, we’ll bounce. Maybe we’ll even get home in time for a few rounds of <b> <em>Overwatch.</em> </b> Yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>Ambrose nodded resolutely. “Deal.” He unfastened his seat belt and jumped from his seat, but stopped to deliver one final thought.</p><p> </p><p>“But I will smoke you.”</p><p>
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</p><p>“Ohmigod. I need a fucking drink,” Alexa Bliss groaned to her much taller companion.</p><p> </p><p>“What’d Adam do now?” Said companion replied. She was wearing a nametag that read “Charlotte, Sophomore” along with the Greek letters “ZBZ.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so fucking done with him. You know Nikki caught him screwing some Tri-Pi after practice Monday?”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte shook her head. “I heard it was some townie, but I did hear that he cheated.” She slid a friendly arm around her Sorority sister, who’s own nametag read “Junior” and had the same Greek letters as Charlotte’s. “I’m sorry. What’re you gonna do?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa gave her friend a sassy smirk. “Are you kidding me? There’s gonna be eighty hot guys coming through here tonight. One of them just might get their ‘moment of Bliss.’”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte scoffed and rolled her eyes. She loved Alexa dearly, having been her best friend since rush week the year prior, but sometimes she was over the top with her self-confidence. </p><p> </p><p>“You just gonna jump on some rando, eh?” Charlotte inquired, already knowing the answer.</p><p> </p><p>Before Alexa could respond, a third gorgeous blonde approached the pair, her hands full of liquor bottles. She passed one to each girl.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Trish,” Alexa greeted brightly. “Why are we here again? I just love being in my cheating loser ex’s Fraternity house when I could be literally anywhere else.”</p><p> </p><p>Trish shrugged, before nodding her understanding. “We told Dolph and the guys we’d be ‘shot girls’ for their pref in exchange for their help with ‘skit night’ next week.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa tilted her head back dramatically. “Uggggh. Skit night? Can we just cancel that stupid shit  and bid the first thirty girls that walk through the door?”</p><p> </p><p>Trish chuckled. “I wish it were that simple. You know Nationals is after us hard to bring in another strong pledge class. That’s the ‘Zeta Beta’ way,” she finished, her sarcasm not missed by either of her companions.</p><p> </p><p>The small talk continued for a minute, though it wasn’t easy to maintain with music blaring from the next room over. After another second or two, Alexa’s eyes were drawn to one of a trio of young men who’d just wandered through the front door.</p><p> </p><p>“Ladies, we have our first candidate of the night. Anyone know him?” She asked, nodding her head at Dean Ambrose.</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte shook her head. “No, but I’ve seen all three of them around the weight room. They must play football.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa gave her Sorority sisters a wicked grin. “Perfect. If I hook up with a football player, it’ll get back to Adam.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte made a face of disgust. “You want to make him jealous so he’ll beg you to come back?”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck no,” Alexa retorted spitefully. “I wanna bone that hot rushee and tell Adam about it myself on the coffee date he asked me on today. He wants to ‘talk things out,’ which in his language means ‘tell me why it’s okay that he cheated.’”</p><p> </p><p>Trish gave a remorseful wag of the head for her friend’s change in fortune. “I’m sorry you guys broke up.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa stopped her with a raised hand. “I’m not. Adam Cole is only capable of loving Adam Cole. I was stupid to think otherwise. He’s not even hot,” she continued, as she began walking toward the three boys she’d pointed out a minute ago. Her incredulous “sisters” fell in line next to her, their strides in unison. </p><p> </p><p>“...yeah, like he’s skinny, but he’s not muscly. He looks like he’s made out of pipe cleaners. His head is way too big for his body. Like, he looks like one of those ‘Easter Island’ statues, and…” she trailed off as the three blondes found themselves directly across from the triad she’d designated a moment before.</p><p> </p><p>Dean Ambrose took in the sight of three knockout gorgeous women standing parallel to his two roommates and him. The shortest, a fierce looking little waif with red highlights in her flawless golden hair and a body that men would have started wars over in ancient times, stood in her most defiant stance, her free hand rested on her jutted hip and her other clutching a bottle of what Seth would call “bad decision fuel.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I like college,” Dean muttered to Roman, who in turn burst out laughing. Seth couldn’t hold in his chuckle either.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi boys,” Alexa cooed flirtatiously at him. “We are the Lambda Chi welcoming committee. Do you have your invitations?”</p><p> </p><p>Almost in direct synchronization, the three freshmen produced embossed cardstock from their back pockets. Charlotte glanced at the cards, before giving each of the boys the ‘once over.’</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks for dressing up, there…?” She pointed at Dean, who was clad in a t-shirt and ratty blazer while his two companions were adorned in dress shirts and khakis.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s Dean,” he replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Right, Dean. A little word of advice; if you want to impress these guys, don’t openly defy dress code. They’re real weird about stuff like that.”</p><p> </p><p>Ambrose scoffed. “What makes you think I want to impress them?”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte took a step back, shaking her head defensively. “Keep doing exactly what you’re doing then.”</p><p> </p><p>“Enough talking,” Alexa proclaimed, unsealing whatever clear alcohol was in the bottle. “It’s time for ‘welcome shots.’”</p><p> </p><p>“Oooh, welcome shots,” Dean repeated playfully to his roommate.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh fuck, Dean’s into this now?” Seth complained. </p><p> </p><p>“We’re all gonna fuckin’ die,” Roman rumbled back.</p><p> </p><p>One at a time, Alexa Bliss poured burning liquid straight into the mouths of Seth, then Roman, giving a small cheer of encouragement. When she got to Dean, however, she made no secret of her plans for the immediate future. She sauntered up to him, her eyes narrowing in a sultry gaze, and her hips wiggled from side to side with each step.</p><p> </p><p>“Open wide, Dean,” she lilted, reaching high above her head with the bottle, before reaching with her free hand to hook Dean’s shirt collar, pulling him closer to her level. As she began her pour, she made sure to rub herself against him as overtly as possible. Finally, after a much longer shot than any human should really be able to withstand, Ambrose pulled away from the bottle, drawing cheers from several onlookers.</p><p> </p><p>“That was impressive,” Alexa said aloud. Before letting go of his collar, she pulled him even closer to her, his ear now almost touching her lips.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll be at the Kappa Delta house later,” she whispered, her warm breath giving Dean goosebumps. “I’m looking to get over someone. Maybe by getting under you.” She giggled, almost imperceptibly, before taking the slightest nibble of Dean’s earlobe. Instantly, she turned some internal switch, transforming from “wanton sex goddess” back to “perky sorority girl.” </p><p> </p><p>“That’s all, boys,” Trish asserted. “Consider yourselves welcomed.” She gestured toward the great room, where hundreds of students were amassed in many stages of inebriation. “Enjoy the party.”</p><p> </p><p>The three girls scurried away, with Charlotte fussing over Alexa’s brazen come-on to Dean. Still in a trance, Ambrose turned slowly toward his Samoan friend, who was also shocked over recent events.</p><p> </p><p>“Did that…?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I think so,” Seth Rollins interjected back.</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded, finally starting to comprehend what was happening. </p><p> </p><p>“Man, I fucking love college!” Dean called, prompting another cheer from his now impressed audience.</p><p> </p><p>“Pace yourself, Asher Roth,” Roman reminded Dean. “You don’t want to go viral your first real college party.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fair enough,” Ambrose muttered. </p><p> </p><p>With that, the three boys sauntered into the mass of students, knowing that tonight would start the rest of their lives.</p><p>
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</p><p>The party raged on. The three gorgeous ZBZ continued pouring clear liquor for newcomers, but no one else got the “special attention” that Dean did. After another half hour, during which Roman, Dean, and Seth were plowing through shots with the teammates who’d invited them, a hush grew about the room as a line of what looked to be Lambda Chi brothers made themselves known on the balcony. In the center, an extremely arrogant-looking man with bleach blonde hair surveyed the party, cheap sunglasses perched on his forehead and obnoxiously chewing gum.</p><p> </p><p>“Good evening,” the young man began. “My name is Dolph Ziggler. I know, I know,” he acquiesced as some newcomers chuckled at his name. </p><p> </p><p>“Welcome to Lambda Chi! If you are here and you aren’t currently a brother, or an extremely attractive woman,” he paused again as a cheer erupted from the peanut gallery, “that means you warranted an invitation! Be proud of yourselves!”</p><p> </p><p>Another bawdy round of applause followed this sentiment. Dolph allowed it to go a minute, before raising his hand to quiet the crowd. </p><p> </p><p>“I promise, if you pledge Lambda Chi, this will be only the first of many insane, life-changing parties you will experience as a member of the oldest, most prestigious Brotherhood on this campus!”</p><p> </p><p>This time, the cheer that went up was a veritable roar, followed by a strong chorus of what Roman assumed were Lambda Chi brothers chanting their fraternity’s name in unison.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Dean?” Roman wondered softly while taking in the rowdy goings-on all around him.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?” Dean asked, his own eyes wandering the room.</p><p> </p><p>“You know how in every college movie there’s like one fraternity that’s full of like, underachievers who love to party and skip class and still get piles of ass? And then there’s their rival fraternity, the preppy rich kids who hate the underachievers because they know deep down their own lives will never be as fulfilling?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean pondered this for a second. “Yeah, so?”</p><p> </p><p>Roman exhaled deeply, finally gazing over at his friend and teammate. “Which house do you think we’re in right now?”</p><p> </p><p>Seth and Dean both let out a loud chuckle, before continuing their scan of the Fraternity house and realizing their friend was exactly right. </p><p> </p><p>“We’re not pledging Lambda Chi, are we?” Seth asked, his eyes still taking in the massive pulsating ode to decadence taking place before them.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t vote Republican or enjoy roofie-ing women, so no. I don’t think so,” Roman muttered in response.</p><p> </p><p>“Doesn’t mean we can’t drink them dry for the next… thirty seven minutes.” Dean returned, his eyes now squarely on the blonde minx he’d met just a little earlier.</p><p> </p><p>With that, the three freshmen headed for a giant ice trough to procure another round of libations.</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p>Across the room, at exactly the same time, Trish, Alexa, and Charlotte were half paying attention to the pretentious speech Ziggler was giving. Alexa wasn’t exactly sure why they were there at all, given that she’d just broken up with LamChi Vice President Adam Cole and that Trish was no longer seeing Dolph, but, as Stratus would say, “a promise is a promise.” They’d committed to being there for the Fraternity, though this would be the last time, and so Trish insisted they be there. The minute Dolph’s oration ended, however, Alexa turned to her Sorority sisters and rolled her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Ugh, okay, I’m leaving. I’ve had about enough of these idiots and I have a rendezvous later.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte smirked, but checked her watch and nodded. “Yeah, I promised my… new friend I’d meet ‘em later. I just got a text.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa and Trish glanced at each other. This was certainly news.</p><p> </p><p>“Oooh, a new mystery guy for ‘the Queen.’ Spill it!”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte shook her head vociferously. “Not a chance, ladies. Gotta keep a little mystery. Besides, I’m not sure how serious we are yet and I don’t want to scare them off.”</p><p> </p><p>Trish nodded. “Fair enough.” Looking over at Alexa, she shrugged and gestured for the exit.</p><p> </p><p>“Shall we?” </p><p> </p><p>“Thank God,” Alexa responded, slamming her bottle on the closest table top and immediately heading for the exit.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll meet you guys at Kappa Delta!” Charlotte called after them, before staring at her phone screen and tiptoeing into the Lambda Chi kitchen.</p><p>
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</p><p>“Uhhh, hurry up,” Charlotte muttered to herself as she compulsively checked her phone screen. Her date was very tardy, and that was cutting into the statuesque blonde’s drinking time. But drinking herself into a stupor wasn’t nearly as urgent as a few minutes with someone who’d become so much more than a friend over the summer. They’d had a summer class, which meant longer lectures, and that gave the two business majors plenty of time to sit together. Finally, they’d gone for ice cream after summer midterms, and ended up having sex in the back of Charlotte’s car. Their schedules ran perpendicular, which meant they didn’t have oodles of opportunities to be together, but they’d made the most of every single one.</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte was replaying all those wonderful “firsts” in her head, increasingly oblivious to her surroundings, which made it very easy for her late-arriving lover to sneak up behind the shapely Sophomore.</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte nearly jumped out of her designer heels when she felt a pair of hands slide affectionately around her waist. After a second of realization, however, her lips parted into a bright grin as she felt her paramour plant kisses on her neck and jawline.</p><p> </p><p>“Evening, gorgeous,” whispered an accented voice before lightly biting at Charlotte’s earlobe.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmmm,” she returned in absolute euphoria. She turned into her lover, letting her arms slide around their toned body, and pressed their faces together.</p><p> </p><p>“Becky, I’m so glad you’re here.” She paused her welcome to kiss the red-haired siren who’d been the star of Charlotte’s fantasies since June.</p><p> </p><p>“Me too, lass,” Becky half-moaned as she returned Charlotte’s obvious desire. </p><p> </p><p>That was all the conversation for several minutes as the clandestine couple made out passionately, Becky forcing Charlotte against the counter and eventually lifting her slightly to a seated position, with Becky standing between her legs. Finally, the need to take in oxygen overwhelmed both girls, and Charlotte chose to use that time to start communicating.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow.” </p><p> </p><p>Becky grinned and nodded, biting her lip in happiness. </p><p> </p><p>“‘Wow’ yerself, sexy.” They kissed again, Charlotte giving a content mewl into Becky’s mouth as they released all the pent up sexual tension that came with not being able to be open about a relationship.</p><p> </p><p>“I missed you bad today, Becks,” Charlotte continued, as she felt Becky’s hands wandering her waistline. “It’s hard not being able to see you in class every day, and even harder keeping my hands to myself at the ZBZ house.”</p><p> </p><p>Becky glanced at the floor and nodded. She ran a soft, sensual hand up the front of Charlotte’s cut up t-shirt, which already left very little to the imagination. “I need you, Charlotte. I’m tired of keeping this a secret.” Charlotte felt Becky’s hand moving to her breast, causing a breathy whine of pleasure from the blonde. </p><p> </p><p>“Fuuuuck, Becky. I’ve needed that all day.”</p><p> </p><p>Becky giggled, increasing her machinations on her favorite parts of Charlotte’s body.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve needed it too, lass.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte took Becky’s face in her hands, forcing eye contact. Becky’s hand under Charlotte’s top kept it’s motions, and Charlotte could now feel Becky’s free hand sliding into her back pocket. “You understand why I can’t ‘come out’ to everyone, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Becky nodded, though she didn’t look happy. </p><p> </p><p>“I get it,” the ginger beauty replied. “I don’t think anyone would be surprised ta find out I’m gay. It may not be the same for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte nodded, but did stop to plant a light kiss on Becky.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not even sure I really am gay. I just know I’m into you. Very into you.”</p><p> </p><p>Becky smiled, biting her tongue playfully. “And I am into you. Do we have time for a little…?”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte grinned wickedly. “Have I ever said no to you?”</p><p> </p><p>The Irish bombshell shook her head in the negative. Becky, needing no further prompting, kissed her way from Charlotte’s lips, down her neck to her collarbone, stopping briefly to nuzzle the shapely blonde’s generous chest, before making her way to her toned waistline. </p><p> </p><p>Feeling Becky unfasten her shorts, Charlotte’s adrenaline began rushing.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, we’re gonna do this he- OH FUUUUUUUCK!” She exclaimed, any other objection immediately derailed by Becky’s overactive tongue. As her cries grew louder and more desperate, Charlotte could do nothing but tighten her grip on her two fistfuls of Becky’s auburn hair, and pray the shitty country music Lambda Chi was playing would stay loud enough to cover the waves of pleasure.</p><p>
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</p><p>Roman, Seth, and Dean followed a huge arriving crowd into the Kappa Delta House. In stark contrast to Lambda Chi, the outside of KD was somewhat unkempt. White paint was peeling from the exterior, the grass was mowed but there was little to no attention paid to landscaping, and the entire dwelling was lined in Christmas lights, despite it being the first weekend in September.</p><p> </p><p>From thirty feet away, the boys could already hear the rhythmic pulsating of party hip hop. Dean, in particular, could pick out the song from just a very few beats. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh shit, ‘California Love.’ This is more my speed.”</p><p> </p><p>Seth grinned and nodded. “Loveable underdogs that skip class yet still get piles of ass. That’s us.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman turned to either side of him, where his friends were stationed. “Shall we, boys?”</p><p> </p><p>Without an audible answer, all three potential pledges ascended the rickety porch stairs, where “California Love” by TUPAC SHAKUR echoed well into the cool night.</p><p> </p><p>The house they entered was as different from the last one on the inside as it was on the outside. From the second they entered, they were greeted warmly by what Roman assumed were Fraternity members. Each was handed a beer and shown to the main party floor, a large room in the center of the house that appeared to account for most of KD’s square footage.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit,” Dean remarked, mostly to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“This place is fuckin’ great,” Seth muttered, taking a long pull from the icy can he’d just popped open.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy fuckin’ shit, they’ve got an entire room dedicated to beer games, I want to live here,” Roman chimed in.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys, I don’t say this very often, but I fuckin’ love you.” Dean slid an arm around each of his compatriots, who in turn shook their heads. The three boys each extended their opened beer in front of them, bringing them together in an informal toast.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys, Guys!” Blurted a voice to their right. Almost in unison, they turned to face the person addressing them. </p><p> </p><p>“Christian Cage,” Seth began, almost sardonically. Cage, the football team’s starting Strong Safety, had been one of the main upperclassmen to get on them about joining Kappa Delta in the first place. There had been others; Randy Orton, Luke Harper, Karl Anderson, and Tucker Knight, but Cage had been the first and loudest. </p><p> </p><p>“What’s up guys?” Cage continued, familiar smirk adorning his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, just got here. Noticed there was an insane beer game room over there,” Ambrose observed.</p><p> </p><p>Cage nodded, giving the trio a knowing smile. “Yeah, we call that our ‘stomping grounds.’ It’s not for the faint of heart.”</p><p> </p><p>“I haven’t had a heart since I was eleven years old,” Dean responded defiantly.</p><p> </p><p>“Well then I might have to run you at beer pong then, Freshman,” Christian retorted. As soon as the words left his lips, Alexa Bliss and Trish Stratus approached the quartet of gentlemen.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello again, boys,” Trish called amiably, if not slightly dismissively. As a Senior and Stamford University’s reigning Homecoming Queen, Stratus had a reputation to protect, and socializing too much with freshmen wasn’t how she was expected to behave. Alexa Bliss, however, had no such qualms about mixing it up with what the upperclassmen called “fresh meat.”</p><p> </p><p>“Looks like you made it over here,” she teased the still-hesitant Ambrose.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. I mean, they didn’t get embossed invitations to give us like Lambda Chi did, but I’m starting to think that might be a good thing.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa nodded. “Yeah, trust me; don’t pledge LamChi. They’re all fucking idiots. And,” she pressed on, inching closer to her target, “I’ll never step foot in that house again. And that would be horrible for you, wouldn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Instead of spitting out the dozens of sentences running through his head at the moment, Dean just nodded his agreement. “Yeah, that’d be real bad.”</p><p> </p><p>Seth Rollins could no longer watch Dean interact with Alexa without laughing. Ambrose had been known at their high school as being the top ladies’ man on campus. And now here he was, his first big night of college partying, and he was being completely run aground by one of the smallest adults Rollins had ever laid eyes on.</p><p> </p><p>“Roman, you seeing this?”</p><p> </p><p>The giant Samoan nodded. “Yeah. Fuckin’ Ambrose getting run over by Tinkerbell.”</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse you?” Bliss exclaimed incredulously. “Tinkerbell doesn’t have shit on this,” she continued, giving a hip swivel as she turned her back to the boys, her hand firmly in Ambrose’s.</p><p> </p><p>“C’mon,” she insisted. “You’re dancing with me.”</p><p> </p><p>Reigns and Rollins watched in a mixture of joy and horror as they watched one of their oldest friends be nearly molested by a Junior. After a couple of minutes, however, a thought occurred to Seth Rollins.</p><p> </p><p>“Yo, what the fuck are we doing here? We’re watching Dean set up some ass instead of getting our own.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman snickered. “Yeah. We should probably stop standing around like a couple of dipshits.”</p><p> </p><p>Cage, who’d been so engaged in chatting up Trish Stratus that the pair of remaining rushees had forgotten he was there, turned back to the boys, cocky smirk never leaving his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Well boys, I’m no expert, but it looks like the ZBZ prospects just got here. Right Trish?”</p><p> </p><p>He pointed to a cluster of hesitant looking young women who’d just cascaded through the front entrance. Roman looked at Seth, who shrugged, then made the first move toward the group.</p><p>
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</p><p>That’s the way it went for the next hour. Eventually, Charlotte Flair caught up with Alexa and Trish, though both her friends wondered to no avail why she looked so disheveled when she’d been so put together when they left Lambda Chi. Dean Ambrose eventually realized what was happening and began relying more on the devastating charm that had served him so well in high school. Roman and Seth made small talk with a half dozen or so girls each, but no one stood out to either of them. Finally, around midnight, the party began dying down. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s starting to get a little light in here, Christian,” she observed to the Kappa Delta President. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, not everyone has their ‘sea legs’ under them yet.”</p><p> </p><p>“I think I’m gonna go back to ZBZ. Maybe relax in the hot tub for a while. Care to join?”</p><p> </p><p>Christian nodded vociferously. “Absolutely.” He pointed toward the center of the room, where Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were currently in the center of a mass of about seven young women.</p><p> </p><p>“Can I invite my star pupils?” Cage asked, wry grin as prominent as ever.</p><p> </p><p>Trish Stratus rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help feeling washed over with fondness for her dance partner. She and Christian had come to SU the same year, and they’d seemed to always share the same space, even when they weren’t romantically interested. </p><p> </p><p>“Of course you can. I’m quite sure Alexa wants to bring her new puppy.” She pointed to one side of the same room, where Alexa Bliss was currently trying to see how far down Dean Ambrose’s throat she could stick her tongue as the melody of “Chandelier” by SIA kept everyone moving. After another moment, Christian beckoned to his teammates.</p><p> </p><p>Roman, Seth, and Dean all approached, though Ambrose looked thoroughly irritated at having to break up what he was engaged in.</p><p> </p><p>“Boys, Trish has invited us to go for a little late-night soak in the ZBZ hot tub. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what an honor this is.”</p><p> </p><p>Seth nodded. “Are any of the other brothers coming?” He inquired, gesturing around the room.</p><p> </p><p>Christian shrugged. “Maybe a couple. Gallows, Dawson, Wilder. Ladies love WIlder.”</p><p> </p><p>Trish smiled and nodded. “It’s true. Even though he’s short.”</p><p> </p><p>Reigns laughed. “We gotta go get swimsuits. I’m not fucking up my good shorts in the hot tub. No offense,” he added quickly, raising a deferring hand to Trish.</p><p> </p><p>“None taken,” she responded, platonically running her hand along Roman’s bicep. “You guys go get your suits and meet us at ZBZ in what, thirty minutes?” She checked with Cage, who gave his own shrug in return.</p><p> </p><p>“I live in this fucker. I can be ready in five minutes.”</p><p> </p><p>Listening intently, Alexa chimed in for the first time in this conversation. “Can one of you two go get Dean’s suit? I have plans for him and I’m not sure I’m willing to let him out of my sight.”</p><p> </p><p>Rollins tilted his head in annoyance. “Really, bro?”</p><p> </p><p>Ambrose shrugged in response. “I’m not the one calling the shots here. I’ve been chosen.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fucking right you have,” Alexa remarked quickly, laying another tongue-laden kiss on her new lover. “I’m serious,” she quipped, turning back to Rollins and Reigns. “Go get his suit for him and I’ll put in a good word for you with the house full of over a hundred women you’re about to walk into.”</p><p> </p><p>Seth and Roman considered this for a moment, before making eye contact and coming to almost the exact same conclusion. </p><p> </p><p>“Which suit do you want, Dean?”</p><p> </p><p>Ambrose chuckled, enjoying his buddies kissing ass so as to not run afoul of his diminutive taskmaster. “My black basketball shorts. They’ll be fine.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the group went their separate ways, with Trish and Christian headed to the back porch of the Zeta Beta house, Dean and Alexa walking with a purpose toward her room, located on the third floor of the same domicile, and Roman and Seth headed toward their residence.</p><p> </p><p>“This is kind of fucked up,” Seth complained to his friend.</p><p> </p><p>“What is?” Roman returned, only half listening to his teammate.</p><p> </p><p>“That we’re playing ‘gofer’ for Ambrose while he gets his dick wet with what has to be the most attractive woman I’ve ever seen.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman shrugged. “Dean’s always been like that. You remember two years ago when that long term substitute gave him her number on her last day in Mrs. Richter’s class?”</p><p> </p><p>Seth scoffed, but nodded his agreement. “Yeah. She was thirsty.”</p><p> </p><p>“She was,” Roman agreed. “But this can be our night too. We just gotta be smart and stay diligent.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the two arrived at the door to the dorm they shared with the previously mentioned Dean Ambrose. Moving quickly, the duo changed into their suits, throwing on “wife beater” style undershirts and grabbing towels. Roman, being the better acquainted of the pair, rifled through Dean’s haphazardly stuffed drawers, finding what he was looking for after a brief search.</p><p> </p><p>“Got ‘em,” he rumbled. “You ready?”</p><p> </p><p>Rollins shoved a black flat-brim hat onto his head, sliding it into the perfect brim alignment for his face. “Hell yeah. Let’s go.”</p><p> </p><p>The duo headed back out the same way they came in, mindful of the late hour and as quietly as could be managed. They’d almost made it out of their hallway and into the lobby when they were interrupted by a completely new voice; one they hadn’t heard in a few days.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s going on, guys?” The female timbre was firm, but not at all hostile. </p><p> </p><p>“Not too much, Bayley, we’re just headed for a little late night swim at the ZBZ house,” Seth answered, as honestly as he felt comfortable being.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” the latina fired back, “been here a month and already getting invited to party with the ZBZ’s.” She sighed deeply and shook her head. “Look, I try really hard to be ‘the cool RA,’ but you guys know you need to either be in your rooms or wherever you’re going to sleep by midnight, yeah? I mean, that was in the housing agreement you both signed.” </p><p> </p><p>Roman nodded as Seth bit his tongue. Rollins knew his friend was much better at defusing situations like this with his charm than he himself could ever hope to be.</p><p> </p><p>“We know, Bayley, we’re just really excited to have gotten invited to this little shindig.” All at once, as he took in the completely covered but still presumably very attractive frame of his ‘’resident advisor,’’ an idea occurred to Roman Reigns.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, you could come with us. You and your roommate. I dunno what she’s doing now but-”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley managed to cut Roman off without saying a word directly to him. Her eyebrows raised in excitement as she contemplated this invitation. Without missing a beat, she averted her eyes back into her room, where her housemate was presumably listening to the conversation.</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever, Bayley,” the disembodied female voice shot back. “It’s not like we have class tomorrow or anything. I mean, we are the ‘RA’s’ for this hall. What’re they gonna do, kick us out?”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley giggled as though this were the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “You mean it? We can come with you?”</p><p> </p><p>Roman had no idea if they were actually allowed to bring guests or not, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him. Bayley and her roommate Sasha were both incredibly attractive. They were also as uptight as they were conscientious about their supervisory duties. To score points with them early might warrant some considerations later.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure,” Roman lied. “Go get changed. We'll be out here waiting for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley gave him a strange look, as though she were pondering something, before lunging out from behind her door and enveloping Roman in her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, friend! We needed a break like this. I’ll get my suit on!”</p><p> </p><p>She shut the door, firmly yet quietly, leaving Roman in a daza and Seth in a state of mild annoyance.</p><p> </p><p>“Dude, you’re gonna get us our asses kicked before we even pledge,” Seth admonished, shaking his head in dismay.</p><p> </p><p>“No way,” Roman replied. “They’re girls. No one has ever gotten in trouble bringing cute girls to a party in college ever. EVER,” he exclaimed, repeating the last word in that sentence for emphasis. A mischievous smile spread over Roman’s face as he recalled something from earlier in the summer. “And didn’t you say you thought Bayley was kinda hot?”</p><p> </p><p>Seth tried his very best to avoid blushing, but was ultimately unsuccessful. “Yeah, so?”</p><p> </p><p>Roman grinned. “So, now’s the time to put the moves on her! I know she looks kinda plain with the glasses and the loose hoodies, but she’s got the huh-huh-” he gestured behind him, indicating he thought Bayley had a backside worth noting, “and the mmhmm-” this time he was gesturing at his own chest, “and this could be your chance, bro!”</p><p> </p><p>Seth shook his head. “Man, I dunno. What was the name of that fucking smokeshow we met at KD? Mindy, Myra, Mandy?” His eyes lit up with recognition. “Mandy! That was it!”</p><p> </p><p>Roman shook his head, making the “cut it out” gesture by slicing his flat hand across his throat several times. “That bitch was a little too friendly. Either she was trying to sell you Amway or she was told to recruit us hard.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s gonna be at the after party,” Seth noted.</p><p> </p><p>“Damn,” Roman mused, “college fucking rules.”</p><p> </p><p>Just then, Bayley and her roommate opened their door just enough to quietly slide themselves out of the narrow opening. Bayley had a small tote hooked in one elbow, and her roommate, who’s magenta hair stood out in the white cinder block hallway, </p><p> </p><p>“You guys have met Sasha, right?” Bayley asked, genuinely stumped as to whether or not the pair had been introduced to her best friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, on ‘move in’ day. I think she came and brought us our ‘Freshman Follies’ t-shirt.”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. “Yeah, and I think you and your vagabond roommate only came to like one of the events Bay and I planned.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman shrugged, though he offered Bayley his arm in an exaggerated fashion. “We had football. They had us running hard all summer trying to get ready.”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley nodded. “That makes sense.”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha let out a surprised “uh!” It seemed to serve as a reminder of how annoyed she was with Roman and Seth for blowing off the welcome events she and Bayley had scheduled for all the incoming Freshmen. As Roman and Bayley kept up their small talk, Sasha did her best to engage Seth, though she clearly seemed annoyed with the entire prospect. </p><p>
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</p><p>While Roman and Seth fought the battle to get their resident advisors out of their residence, Dean Ambrose was fighting a different kind of battle. Namely, “keep the tiny drunk girl from pulling your pants off until you’re in private.”</p><p> </p><p>They’d arrived at the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority house before any of the other group members they’d adjourned from the KD house with. Alexa, sweet and demure as she could appear to those meeting her in a classroom setting, was an absolutely rapacious flirt when motivated, and very often that energy crossed over into bedroom activities. She’d led Dean through the front door by the hand without stopping for any objections from the house mom or any of her sisters, and now she had her potential new love interest in her bedroom, his back pressed full to the door as her head bobbed back and forth just under where his belt buckle would normally be. Dean wasn’t used to not being the aggressor, but he wasn’t about to derail his current situation by voicing any objection. After what had to be ten minutes of the most skilled oral attention he’d ever gotten in his entire life, Dean finally found enough breath to begin asking questions that should’ve been articulated half an hour earlier.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, should we like, get to know each other or something?”</p><p> </p><p>“Look, here’s the deal,” Alexa began as she gently shoved Dean down on her bed. “I understand your impulse to want to get to know me. I’m an interesting person, quite frankly, and I want to get to know you too because I am very into… all this,” she rambled, gesturing her hands up and down Dean’s body. “But tonight I need a few very specific things from you.” She tugged at the hem of Dean’s shirt as she continued, before pulling it over his head. “One, you’re gonna fuck me while your roommates go get your swimsuit. Then, you’re gonna tell me which bikini looks best on me.” </p><p> </p><p>Dean took in a breath to respond, but Alexa playfully placed a finger over his lips. “No talking, Dean. You can only ruin this by talking.” She ran the fingernails of her other hand down his chest, her heart skipping a beat as she felt the serration of his pectorals. “We’re gonna go down to Trish’s little after-party, because she’s my friend and it’s polite. We’re probably gonna do ‘hand stuff’ in the hot tub.” She slid further down his legs, unfurling his belt from his jeans, never missing a beat. “Then we’re gonna come back up here to my room and you’re gonna fuck me some more. My roommate isn’t back yet and we can get weird. Then we’re gonna pass out from blood rushing back to our heads and then wake up in the morning and then, guess what? We’re probably gonna fuck again, because I’m angry and being angry makes me super-horny.” She pulled Dean’s pants to his ankles, before briefly standing at the edge of her bead and carefully removing his socks and shoes and tugging his jeans from his body. “Then, if you survive, and I don’t need to take you for a blood transfusion, I will buy you brunch and we can get to know each other because again,” she frantically orated on, her stream of consciousness starting to speed up, “you’re super hot and you’ve made me laugh like eight times tonight and you are exactly what I go for. Just not tonight. Tonight all I need is sex and silence. Clear?”</p><p> </p><p>Unsure of whether or not to speak, Dean just nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“Good,” Alexa nodded her head in response. “Now, this is the part where you fuck me.” She dove into bed, pulling her shirt off as soon as her body hit the sheets.</p><p> </p><p>After a moment or two of foreplay, a terrifying notion occurred to Dean. “Wait, do I need protection?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa gave him a look that stopped just short of calling him a dipshit. “I got it totally covered. Implant.” She pointed to her arm. “What kind of fucking idiot would have unprotected sex with someone they barely know?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered. “Yeah, that’d be pretty fuckin’ stupid. It would suck ass getting pregnant at the first party of the year.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa let loose with a cackle of her own. “Yeah, only a complete fucking moron would think that’s a good idea.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded his agreement, ready to voice his opinion again. Before he could, however, Alexa lightly feathered her arms back around his neck, hooking her feet behind Dean’s waist. </p><p> </p><p>“Let’s get to it, cutie. We can do more foreplay after the hot-tubbing. For now I need the main course. Capiche?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered again, unsure of which deity he needed to build an altar to to thank for his current situation. “Understood, babygirl.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa had no vocal response, instead biting her lower lip in joyful anticipation of what was sure to be a memorable first course in what would go on to be a landmark, era-defining evening….</p><p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: Pilot Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ruby comes, and the gang celebrates. Our semester begins to take shape, and Becky and Charlotte aren't being as careful as they thought...</p>
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  <b> <em>I am blown away by the response to this first chapter. Thank You all SOOO much!</em> </b>
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  <em> So, when I started this story, I began writing as I watched police officers tear gas peaceful protestors on my tv. There is something deeply wrong with the law enforcement in my country. On the day I posted chapter 1, another unarmed African american was shot dead in my city. It’s a systemic issue and I’m going out later today to protest. I won’t apologize for saying “all cops are bad” on my last update, but I did want to explain why I was so salty before. I will not mention it again, one way or another. </em>
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  <b> <em>Chapter 2; </em></b>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby Riott, from the time she was old enough to care for herself, had always been something of an early riser. It soothed the young woman to be up with the sun, sipping coffee and spending time in meditation. She’d embraced a life of spirituality since being adopted by the Reigns family, often accompanying her mom to Church and doing her best to live her life in a way that was much more in line with the calm she’d been embraced into with the Reigns. Now, she took a deep inhale of coffee steam and fresh air, her legs stretched out on a small table opposite the camping chair she’d fashioned a “relaxation station” out of. </p><p> </p><p>It was a daily ritual for her; clear her mind of chaos and tumult, reminding herself that she was no longer a captive of abuse and violence. Then, to her chagrin, it was time to engage the outside world for the first time. Powering up her iPhone, she raised her eyebrows in curiosity as she saw 38 missed calls on her screen.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy butts, Dean,” Ruby muttered to herself, before noting that Roman had also called and texted several times. </p><p> </p><p>Ruby had cultivated a hard and fast rule when it came to Dean Ambrose and drunk calls and texts. She’d listen to the first voicemail to figure out where Dean was, and the last one to make sure he wasn’t being kidnapped and to hear if he was so drunk that she should be worried. Adhering to that policy, she selected the first of about eleven separate messages, turning her phone on “speaker” and placing it on the chair’s armrest next to her.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey yo Ru-Ru, it’s your brother!” Dean’s gravelly baritone began, his normal mix of carefree confidence soaking through. “I’m here at…” His voice trailed off, most likely indicating that he had no idea what house he was partying at. “Kappa Delta. We’re getting ready to go to some giant-ass hot tub. Well, first I’m going up to this chick’s room.”</p><p> </p><p>He trailed off again, and Ruby couldn’t help but smile as she heard a voice that sounded like it belonged to the girl he was talking about start yelling at him about not just being “some chick.”</p><p> </p><p>“I really miss you, Ru-Ru. Come see us. Okay, I’m gonna get shitfaced. Talk to you soon.”</p><p> </p><p>The message cut off, and a small smile bloomed on Ruby’s countenance. Causing her lip piercings to sparkle. She went through and deleted several more messages, before coming to the final one. Shrugging again and shaking her head, she pressed “play” on the last communique from the erratic Ambrose.</p><p> </p><p>“Ru-Ru! Ru-Rooooooooooo,” Dean slurred into the phone. “Hey. I’m at the ZBZ House now. It’s like, the same shit as the Kappa Delta house but with girls. Loooooooots of girls. Roman! Roman!” Ruby suppressed a laugh as she envisioned the state of Dean’s intoxication to have left an incoherent message like this one. </p><p> </p><p>“Come say hi to Ruby!”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby rolled her eyes and smiled again. She shifted in her seat as Roman Reigns’ voice rumbled through her phone.</p><p> </p><p>“Ruby. It’s Roman. If I die of alcohol poisoning, tell mom I love her. And clear my browser history.”</p><p> </p><p>The explosion of laughter on one side of the call was apparently contagious, as Ruby broke out into a belly giggle. Her fondest memories after she’d been taken in by the saintly, if not gigantic, Reigns family, were of joyous dinners around the table and the time she spent laughing with her adopted brothers. Image after image of Dean and Roman spending time with her and smiling, whether they were playing video games, studying, driving to school, or just watching television. Those recollections filled Ruby with a warm affection, before the tinge of sadness over being away from them took over.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Dean did invite me,” she reasoned to herself. That settled it, in her mind. Pulling her phone into her hand, she began furiously thumbing a text, biting her lip in concentration as she carefully tapped out her correspondence…</p><p>
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</p><p>There were two things Dean Ambrose was very, very grateful for. One; that he’d apparently impressed Alexa Bliss enough for her to follow through on her promised brunch, and two; that he hadn’t driven to either of the parties that had changed the course of his week.</p><p> </p><p>At the moment, Dean was concentrating almost singularly on begging any deity that would listen to do something about his splitting headache. The sights, sounds, and smells of the local twenty four hour diner overloaded the young man’s obliterated senses. From what he could tell, however, his bunkmate from the previous evening seemed more than satisfied with his performance.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” she began, unwilling to give Dean any additional time to recover, “have fun last night?”</p><p> </p><p>Instead of answering audibly, Ambrose simply raised his eyebrows incredulously at the pixie, who seemed nonplussed by neither the copious amounts of alcohol or the vigorous physical activities in her bed after. Finally, the exhausted Dean cobbled together a satisfactory reply.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. Totally makes this ‘bangover’ worth it.”</p><p> </p><p>Now it was Alexa’s turn to look surprised. “Bangover?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered. “Yeah. It’s like a regular hangover but with the added bonus of sex-related dehydration and overexertion.”</p><p> </p><p>The blue-eyed pixie snickered, a bit impressed by Dean’s moxie. “I didn’t know there was a term for that.”</p><p> </p><p>Ambrose took a long drink from his ice water, followed immediately by a drink of coffee, before nodding in the affirmative. “Yeah, Roman’s brother invented the term. Which is weird, because I’m not sure he’d ever actually done it when he coined the phrase.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa wrinkled her brow, thinking back to the night before. “And Roman was the big one? No shitty blonde streak in his hair?”</p><p> </p><p>Despite his festivity related misery, Dean let out a deep laugh. “Yeah, we’ve tried to get Seth to change his hair for years, but he’s certainly not listening to us after the first girl that ever blew him told him she thought it looked ‘badass.’”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa giggled. “That’s enough about those two lightweight idiots.” She took a sip of her own coffee, before the two turned toward their approaching server. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey Lexi,” the brunette greeted. “Usual?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa nodded. “And whatever the gentleman would like.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean raised his eyebrows in curiosity. “In that case I’ll have the steak and eggs, medium rare and over easy, double hash browns with chopped onions, and white toast.”</p><p> </p><p>The server looked over at Alexa, as if to seek her approval.</p><p> </p><p>The tiny blonde grinned. “No onions. He might need fresh breath later.”</p><p> </p><p>With a cheerful gait, the waitress left the pair to their conversation. </p><p> </p><p>“Where were we?” Alexa asked rhetorically. </p><p> </p><p>“You asked for the origin story,” Dean reminded her sardonically. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah,” she responded brightly, switching her mood almost completely. </p><p> </p><p>The young, unkempt man shrugged. “Well, I’m a foster kid. I lived with my real mom until I was ten.”</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” Alexa inquired, genuinely interested in the young man. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, my mom’s ‘boyfriend’ got super tweaked and decided to burn down the house we lived in for the insurance money.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa chuckled wryly. “Did it work?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered, but shook his head in the negative. </p><p> </p><p>“Nope. We didn’t have insurance.” He squinted his eyes, pondering those memories. “We may have in fact been squatting there.” He shrugged. “But, whatever it was, he forgot to make sure we were out of the house first. The state of Ohio tends to frown on that, so I didn’t live with my mom anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa slid her hand over Dean’s. “I’m so sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean chuckled before shrugging again. “I’m not. I moved in with an aunt, she took me to Florida. Then she couldn’t take care of me anymore, so I had to live in a group home for a few months. That’s where I met my adopted sister Ruby.”</p><p> </p><p>“You mentioned her last night,” Alexa asserted. “I think you might’ve called her as we were headed upstairs to… get busy.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean let out one loud chuckle. “That sounds right. We lived in the group home for another few weeks, then the Reigns family took us in. Ruby went back to her real family for a few months, but she came back. Sika and Patricia adopted us not long after that. I lived in their house and they treated me as one of their own.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa nodded thoughtfully. “I have lots of questions, but I feel like I should know you better first.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean slouched in his chair. “How ‘bout you? You got a ninety second version of your tale?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa grinned, having anticipated this. “Okay. So don’t freak out. Have you heard of ‘Bliss Dairies?’”</p><p> </p><p>“The ice cream people?” Dean returned curiously.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded. “Yep. My grandpa started the company. My dad took it over, but not until after I was born. I grew up the ‘ice cream princess of Ohio.’”</p><p> </p><p>Dean shook his head incredulously. “I remember those commercials from when I was a kid!”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa’s grin grew wider. “You mean ‘it’s never a bad time for a moment of Bliss?’”</p><p> </p><p>Now Dean was having to try not to shout in the crowded eatery. “Yes! That’s the one!”</p><p> </p><p>“My aunt did those voiceovers. Back then they just did the one flavor ice cream bar. Now we have the ‘Twisted Bliss’ with the fruit and the vanilla, the ‘Blissfits’ frozen yogurt, all kinds of new stuff…”</p><p> </p><p>Dean still couldn’t believe who he was talking to. His shock was temporarily interrupted by their server returning with two large, steaming platters.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, Kris,” Alexa blurted out gratefully. Dean peered over at the meal in front of his “date.” It was almost identical to Dean’s, only her eggs were scrambled and she had fruit instead of hash browns. “This smells delicious,” she lilted sweetly, trying to keep the mood light. </p><p> </p><p>The two devoured their breakfasts in near silence, both famished from the hours of exertion from the night before. Before Alexa could change the subject, however, Dean jumped back on their earlier conversation.</p><p> </p><p>“So, ‘the Ice Cream Princess of Ohio,’ eh? What’s that make me?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa grinned brightly, tilting her head at her partner. “What do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>Exhaling deeply, Dean set his steak knife aside and tried his best to have a serious conversation with the girl he was reasonably sure still had his handprints on her backside. </p><p> </p><p>“I said that shitty. Let me rephrase; I like you. I had fun with you last night. If you’re amiable, I’d like to continue our social engagement.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa’s eyebrows raised in curiosity. “Holy shit. You used a LOT of big words there.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded and snickered. “Yeah. That was like every big word I know.” He playfully pointed his finger at the gorgeous pixie. “Don’t change the subject.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa took another bite of melon before responding. “So, here’s the deal. I really had fun with you last night. And not just the sex, although the sex was…” she clicked her lip and gave Dean the “a-ok” hand signal. “I JUST got out of a serious relationship and I don’t want to be the girl who jumps into one serious relationship after another. But I also don’t want you walking around thinking you can sleep with any skank you want.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’d be a fucking tragedy,” Dean deadpanned, his sarcasm dripping from his tone. </p><p> </p><p>Alexa narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance. “You are NOT. Funny, mister.”</p><p> </p><p>“I disagree. I think I’m hilarious.”</p><p> </p><p>Bliss shook her head. “So, I thought about this for a minute while you were asleep and here’s what I came up with; I can’t be anyone’s official ‘girlfriend’ until the proper mourning period for my relationship with Adam has been observed. But,” she paused, sliding her hand discretely over Dean’s in a moment of sincerity, “you are very handsome and funny and I think I might’ve accidentally stumbled into something really good, so for now let’s keep this a secret, and I promise when Rush has ended and everything is calm...”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?” Dean replied gently, encouraging her to finish her thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Then, if you haven’t bored me to tears yet,” she continued, winking at her potential man, “the first ZBZ ‘crush party’ is two weeks from yesterday. I would LOVE for you to be my ‘crush.’”</p><p> </p><p>Dean gave Alexa a confused stare. “The fuck is a crush party?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa giggled. “You’ll learn all that.” Noticing that both parties were done with breakfast, Alexa stood to her feet and pulled a wad of cash from her purse that would’ve probably paid for everyone in the diner’s meal ten times over, “Now, c’mon,” she called softly to Dean, extending her hand for him to take, “neither of us has anything to do the rest of the day. Why don’t we walk back to ZBZ and take advantage of the ‘free time’ we have?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean raised an eyebrow. “You mean sex, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa chuckled, feeling her hand slip into Dean’s as though it’d been created to fit there, before wryly replying; “if you have to ask, maybe I should find someone else…”</p><p>
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</p><p>A second blushing couple was finding their bearings inside House ZBZ, though they were having to be much more secretive. Charlotte Flair had only gotten to wake up in Becky Lynch’s arms a handful of times since the two had begun their torrid affair, and she was still in the emotional stage where every second she spent in her lover’s embrace gave her that dopamine high normally reserved for finishing marathons. </p><p> </p><p>“Mornin’, sexy,” Becky Lynch moaned as she stirred, planting a soft kiss on Charlotte’s neck from behind. Charlotte had specifically requested to be “Little spoon” after their final coital encounter the previous evening, and Becky had been only too happy to oblige. </p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, lover,” Charlotte returned. She turned her body to face her red-haired crush. “That was really fun.” </p><p> </p><p>Lynch smiled, a bright honest grin. “Aye, it was, and I love wakin’ up next to ya, too. We never get ta do that.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte kissed Becky passionately before responding, moaning lightly into Becky’s lips as the abject pleasure of such an embrace coursed through her.</p><p> </p><p>“We sure don’t,” Charlotte agreed, her own smile bright enough to be seen from space. “I wish we could.”</p><p> </p><p>“T’ere’s no reason we can’t,” Becky pointed out desperately, pulling Charlotte’s hand to her lips and kissing it daintily. </p><p> </p><p>Charlotte giggled, but rolled her eyes in apparent exasperation with Becky. “Babe, you know why we can’t go public right now.”</p><p> </p><p>Becky nodded, though she planted a line of sweet kisses down Charlotte’s neck before responding. “Ya don’ think the sisters of ZBZ would respond too kindly to the social chair and Vice President screwin’ each other behind everyone’s backs?”</p><p> </p><p>The statuesque blonde shook her head in the negative. “I think it’d be a lot to handle during rush. Rush is the most important time of year for any Greek organization, and some of the sisters probably don’t need the distraction.” As she finished her sentence, Charlotte rolled herself on top of Becky, posting her toned arms to either side of Lynch’s red head. The Irish beauty lovingly planted more kisses on Charlotte’s left wrist, ecstatic that she was able to let her guard down and truly enjoy being in the stunning Sophomore’s company. </p><p> </p><p>“Bu’ one day we can come ou’ together?” Becky asked, the hope in her voice making Charlotte’s heart twinge slightly. </p><p> </p><p>“I hope so,” she answered honestly. Before she could tee up any other response, however, Charlotte felt Becky’s eager hand slide between her stunningly perfect legs.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuuuuuck, Becky, are we doing this again?”</p><p> </p><p>Instead of answering audibly, Lynch just bit her lip and closed her eyes, wanting as much intimacy with her secret girlfriend as could be managed before the pair had to go their separate ways.</p><p> </p><p>The next few moments in the upstairs room weren’t filled with coherent words, or conventional activities, but instead the air quickly became saturated with lustful moans and muffled cries into whatever pillows each girl discarded their passionate outbursts into. As Becky worked her hand forcefully between Charlotte’s legs, causing all manner of foul language to emanate from the juicy blonde’s swollen lips, the bedroom door flew open, an unaware third party now privy to what was occurring bounding through the wooden apparatus.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Charlotte, can I borrow you for a sec- OH SHIT I’M SORRY!!!”</p><p> </p><p>Becky and Charlotte instantly broke their orgasmic embrace, doing their best to appear like they were just two friends who somehow ended up naked together. Their intruder, a tiny Latina with an eye for mischief, couldn’t help but snicker mischievously and do her very best not to scream this latest development to the entire house.</p><p>
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</p><p>Dean Ambrose still wasn’t sure what he’d done in a past life to be cosmically rewarded like he was currently being. Instead of rolling out of his triple decker bunk and toasting strawberry pop tarts over a hot plate, as he and his roommates normally did on Friday mornings, he’d enjoyed a delicious breakfast and scintillating conversation with maybe the most attractive girl he’d ever made acquaintance with. And now, even after their meal was complete, the pleasure of her company still hadn’t eluded him, as she now seemed content to traipse slowly down Londos Street with him.</p><p> </p><p>“...So then I won Miss Teen Ohio, and a lot of the other girls thought I only won because I did sexual things with the judges, but that wasn’t true at all,” Alexa commented pointedly, her arm hooked in Dean’s. “I won because my daddy is super rich. That’s fair, right?” She asked Dean, a bit haughtily and not at all caring what his answer was so long as it acquitted her of suspicion.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh…” Dean grunted, formulating his response. “Seems fair to me.” </p><p> </p><p>“Exactly!” Alexa exclaimed, the bright smile on her face letting Dean know that she was still joking. “I was Miss Teen Ohio, Miss Farmland Ohio, and I was captain of the cheerleading squad. And I bet I still get less scholarship money than you,” she inferred, gently elbowing Dean in the ribs as she halfheartedly gazed into one of the vintage clothing stores she’d preferred in years past.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, my shit’s all paid for,” Ambrose admitted, a wry half-smile parting his lips. “Mostly the football, but my room and books come from a grant for foster kids who ‘make good.’ That’s how my sister Ruby paid for her junior college, even though hopefully that’s just this year.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa’s face brightened. “Do you have a picture? I wanna see what she looks like.” </p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered, not sure of whether Alexa was joking. After considering for a moment, the young man simply shrugged and pulled his phone from his back pocket, thumbing up a photo he’d taken with Roman and Ruby the night of their graduation. Alexa took the device from him, before he’d even given permission, to gaze at the screen.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s hot,” Alexa spat, as Dean rolled his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Really? That’s my sister. Kind of,” he gravelled.</p><p> </p><p>“You two ever…?”</p><p> </p><p>Now Ambrose was caught in a mixture of real and feigned disgust. “Ew, no. She’s my adopted sister.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa shrugged playfully. “I’m just saying, there are entire categories on pornhub for that sort of thing,” she remarked casually.</p><p> </p><p>“Can we talk about something else?” Dean groaned, hopeful that Alexa would be open to a change in topic. </p><p> </p><p>“You don’t want that mental image?” Alexa giggled as she spoke, thoroughly enjoying making Dean uncomfortable. </p><p> </p><p>“Not even a little bit.” Alexa’s laugh grew louder, but she squeezed his arm playfully to indicate that she was just messing with him.</p><p> </p><p> “Do you know which Fraternity you’re going to pledge?” </p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded thoughtfully, knowing that this answer could change the trajectory of his budding relationship with Alexa.</p><p> </p><p>“Probably Kappa Delta,” he admitted to the miniscule blonde. “Lambda Chi has put the full court press on all summer, even before they were supposed to, but I dunno. They just seem really-”</p><p> </p><p>“Douchey?” Alexa interrupted. “Yeah. They are. My ex, Adam, is their Vice President.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered. “Yeah, you mentioned that once or twice.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it’s important information. Just about every guy in that house is a self-important shitheel who thinks they’re going to be the next Donald Trump or the next Papa John’s guy…”</p><p> </p><p>Now it was Dean’s turn to interject. “Yeah, we caught that vibe from them too. But Seth is hung up on all that stuff they said about there being at least one LamChi on four hundred seventy one of the current Fortune Five Hundred list. They have the best alumni network in the country, whatever that means, and it seems like the right thing to do for our long term futures.”</p><p> </p><p>“But?” Alexa asked, suddenly not wanting to steer this intriguing young man down the wrong path.</p><p> </p><p>“They all seem like pretentious Yuppie elitist assbags. The type of guys who eat hors d'oeuvres, whatever they are, and like, play golf without being forced and watch Tucker Carlson or talk about whether or not a champagne is from a ‘good year’ before they drink it.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa laughed. “Well, despite the fact that there are members of my immediate family who do all of those things, I think it sounds pretty horrible, too. That’s why I broke up with Adam the first time. The second time was because he cheated on me with some townie sleaze, but that’s another story.” She looked up at Dean, biting her lip with some level of smolder as she had a new occurrence wash over her. “You know, none of the fraternities can talk to you today. Today is the day where the actives all meet and decide who sucks and who gets a bid. We don’t have any practice today, and I’m pretty sure you guys don’t, either. Wanna kill some time with me?” She asked, her hopelessly alluring eyes conveying the message she was actually sending Dean.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you always this...aggressive?” Dean asked in return, though he was allowing Alexa to lead him back in the direction of the ZBZ house as he spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“I prefer ‘assertive,’” Alexa replied brightly. “I grew up really conservative. The downside to being the center of so many people’s world is that I was insanely sheltered. My first year here I almost went a little crazy. I’d never had so many boys pay attention to me all at once, and I let it go to my head.” She stopped, looking up to meet the linebacker’s gaze before planting a kiss on his bottom lip, lightly nipping with her teeth before letting go. “But I’ve always been very selective, even though some of the girls on sorority row would say I’m a ‘slut.’ I’m not, I’ve really only been with two or three guys, I’m just vocal and demonstrative about what I want. I wanted Adam Cole, for reasons that escape me, and now I want you.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s the best answer to any question I’ve ever heard,” Ambrose returned, that devastating half-smile returning to his face.</p><p> </p><p>The pair made their way back to sorority row, and resumed their previous evening’s posting in Alexa’s spacious bedroom. This time, however, there was a tinge of affection in their proceedings, as both members of this party began to wonder if there might be more in their future than a simple hookup...</p><p>
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</p><p>AJ Lee could not stop smiling. Not because she was particularly happy to have caught two of her closest sorority sisters (and pledge classmate, in Charlotte’s case) having illicit sex in the house, but because she had no idea what other reaction to project to the anxious pair of lovers who were co-occupying her breakfast table. </p><p> </p><p>“AJ, stop giggling!” Charlotte admonished, already clearly uncomfortable with the tiny latina’s eyes on her.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t help it!” AJ retorted. “It’s not every day you turn a corner and walk into-” she lowered her voice so no passersby could hear- “your pledge sister and our social chair chowing down on each other’s ‘lady parts.’”</p><p> </p><p>Becky and Charlotte both chuckled despite themselves and their state of embarrassment. “That’s not wha’ we was doin’,” Lynch mumbled. </p><p> </p><p>AJ shrugged playfully. “Semantics.” To both other girls immense gratitude, AJ went silent as one of their sisters walked by sleepily. </p><p> </p><p>After hearing the kitchen door close behind her, AJ’s eyes widened again, fully engaged in the conversation. </p><p> </p><p>“So, how long?”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte fought against her face flushing as she answered. “Since the summer. We were in a class together and one night we went for ice cream and ended up in the back of my car.”</p><p> </p><p>“Only ‘cause I didn’t drive,” Becky fired back. </p><p> </p><p>AJ laughed. “You guys are already bickering like you’ve been together for years. So, are you guys like…?”</p><p> </p><p>“Together?” Charlotte finished her sentence for her. “I mean, yes and no. Neither of us is seeing anyone else but I’m not sure I’m ready to come out to everyone.”</p><p> </p><p>“I dated a girl once,” AJ blurted. </p><p> </p><p>“Really?” Becky inquired. </p><p> </p><p>AJ shrugged again, flopping her arms at her side. “I mean, sort of. I was a Junior Counselor at camp WindStorm last summer and another JC and I would sneak off and make out. She was hot, but I think I was mostly just bored. Does that mean I’m ‘bi?’”</p><p> </p><p>Becky chuckled. “It means ya get bored a’ summer camp like everyone else. An’ maybe yer a little bit bi.”</p><p> </p><p>AJ giggled. “So, I have to tell you, this is super fucking hot to me. You guys sneaking around behind everyone’s back. It’s like, forbidden love. Like a romance novel or something.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte allowed a smile, but turned back sternly toward AJ after a moment. “AJ, you have to swear you won’t tell a soul.”</p><p> </p><p>AJ nodded, but remained quiet.</p><p> </p><p>“Swear!” Charlotte liked AJ a great deal, but she wasn’t super sure that she could trust the somewhat erratic Chicana. AJ was what could politely be known as a “loose cannon,” and the possibility existed that their tiny spanish-speaking sister would let their secret slip without even meaning to.</p><p> </p><p>“I swear, Gah,” AJ responded, rolling her eyes. “What’s the big deal? It’s Twenty- Eighteen, for shit’s sake.”</p><p> </p><p>Becky shook her head. “It’s no’ that. Charlotte isn’t ready to come out.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlotte raised a finger to stop Becky’s train of thought. “It’s not that I’m not ready. I’m not even sure if I’m gay. All I know is I like having sex with you. How irresponsible is that?”</p><p> </p><p>All three girls chuckled, before AJ slid a hand over each girl’s forearm, a gesture that was meant to be comforting. “Your secret is safe with me. I think you’re being silly, but I won’t tell anyone.”</p><p> </p><p>Both Becky and Charlotte smiled. “Thanks,” the shapely blonde fired back at her friend. </p><p> </p><p>“No problem,” AJ lilted, before a wicked grin spread across her face. “So, which one of you is cleaning my room to make sure I keep quiet?”</p><p>
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</p><p>The rest of that Friday was a very interesting time for the three roommates. Seth, Dean, and Roman all spent their mornings spread apart, Dean with Alexa, Seth getting in an extra workout, and Roman finally having to sneak out of a girl’s dorm room that he didn’t even remember meeting. All he knew was that the names on the door were “Billie and Peyton” and that whichever one he hadn’t slept with was making things very uncomfortable for him with her questions.</p><p> </p><p>What made each of them smile and plan to get together later was a group text from Ruby. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Hey guys, I miss you, so I decided to take Dean up on his invite and come visit for the wknd. It’s still cool if I sleep on your couch, right? I’m leaving here around 2, after my shift at the shop, so I’ll be there by 4. C U then! </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Roman let go of a giant smile. He loved seeing his adopted sister, almost as much as Dean, and having her around for the weekend would be a welcome addition. Before she could sleep there, however, the giant Samoan knew he needed permission from the hall’s RA for overnight guests.</p><p> </p><p>Bounding down the hall, Reigns lightly rapped on the door with all the delicacy he could muster. He was pretty sure Bayley thought he was cute, and might could then be persuaded to let Ruby stay without a big fuss, but he knew from the night before that the shapely Latina loved to talk. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey Roman,” Bayley belted amiably. Roman could tell from how drowsy she was that she was feeling the effects of the previous evening at least as much as he was.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Bayley. You get home okay last night?”</p><p> </p><p>The raven-haired hugger’s face lit up. “You don’t remember? You called me a Lyft, upgraded it to the XL for me, then waited out front of ZBZ until it got there and told the driver if anything happened to me you’d ‘deal with him.’” She reached out to embrace the giant Samoan. “It was the nicest thing anyone’s done for me all year.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman chuckled. “Well, we’re not very far into the year.” He slid his massive arms around the girl, somewhat reluctantly, hoping she wouldn’t interpret his returning the hug as a sign of more affection than he actually felt. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Bayley. He was growing quite fond of her. He just sensed a crush on him from her side, and since he didn’t feel the same way, there was a chance he’d hurt her feelings without meaning to. </p><p> </p><p>“So listen, Bay, I need a favor.”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley leaned against her door frame, giving her best attempt at being detached and aloof.</p><p> </p><p>“What can I do for you?</p><p> </p><p>Roman paused, more for dramatic effect than anything else. “So, my adopted sister is coming to visit this weekend, and we were just gonna make sure it was okay with you if she slept on the sofa in our dorm room.”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley pondered this a moment, before frowning, which caused Roman’s heart to skip a beat.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” she began, before her smile returned, unable to stay hidden. “She can stay in here with Sasha and I. We have an unoccupied bed for just such an occasion. Wanna see?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, sure,” Roman returned, now awash in confusion. He followed Bayley into the RA’s dorm, which he immediately realized was much larger than the one room dwelling he shared with his brother and best friend from back home. Bayley and Sasha, however, had what could almost be considered an apartment, with a small kitchenette and two bedrooms. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we use this extra room for guests. Sasha and I got really used to rooming together last year, so we decided to just keep our beds in the same room.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman glanced around the guest room, noting that it looked clean, if somewhat sparsely decorated, but that Ruby would probably enjoy not being crammed on to a well-worn futon in a room with three dudes. </p><p> </p><p>“This’ll work good. I’ll let Ruby know.” Nodding resolutely, Roman started for the door, before one more notion occurred to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, I’m sure Ruby will want to go out to dinner tonight or something. You and Sasha want to come with?”</p><p> </p><p>Inwardly, Bayley leaped for joy. The big, handsome defensive lineman was smiling at her, and inviting her to dinner, and so in her mind Bayley was counting it as a “date.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure. Let me text Sasha and let her know.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman furrowed his brow again. “You don’t think you should ask her first?”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley waved a dismissive hand as she began furiously texting on her phone. “Nah, she doesn’t have plans tonight. We always do everything together anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Roman bid Bayley farewell, even acquiescing to a hug that was longer than he really felt was necessary. As he left, he began sending messages of his own, letting his people know the plan and what that would entail for them. </p><p> </p><p>By the time Ruby arrived at Stamford University, a small contingent of students were already gathered outside Dean, Roman, and Seth’s dormitory building, idly chatting and doing their best to put off making a restaurant decision until everyone was present and accounted for.</p><p> </p><p>Dean had taken just a minute to privately greet Ruby upon her arrival, wrapping his sinewy arms around her tightly, pressing the side of his face to hers, and basking in the joy that came with being in the presence of his surrogate sister. As confusing as the both of them found their relationship at times, there was no denying the deep love for one another they each possessed, and Ruby had to fight back a tear of happiness as she lovingly returned Dean’s embrace.</p><p> </p><p>Roman followed close behind, giving the girl a tight squeeze of his own, before escorting her inside for a tour and to show her where she could store her weekend bag. The tattooed brunette met Bayley and Sasha, even allowing Bayley to embrace her almost as tightly as Dean had. Ruby immediately got the feeling that Bayley was already somewhat attached to Roman, and she found the cute Latina adorable, and so she put up with a bit more physical contact than she might have otherwise. </p><p> </p><p>Dean was also joined, for the second time that day, by a tiny blonde with a fiery attitude who was growing ever fonder of him, and him of her. That night, however, Dean met her roommate for the first time; a wild-eyed, chestnut-haired Scot named Nikki Cross. Dean almost instantly sensed that Nikki would murder everyone else in the gathered group for Alexa, and so he trode carefully at first, feeling out the pale Sophomore and ZBZ sister.</p><p> </p><p>His worry ended up being folly. Nikki, while being a bit off-putting upon meeting her, seemed to warm to the group within just a few minutes of meeting them, and even made small talk with Roman and Seth. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, Bayley and Sasha made their way out the exit, walking hurriedly toward the huddle, Sasha rolling her eyes as Bayley began apologizing profusely for their tardiness. </p><p> </p><p>“Guys, I’m so sorry,” the Latina began, “I couldn’t decide what to wear.”</p><p> </p><p>“So she put on the same thing she wears every day,” Sasha added sardonically. Bayley wore her customary SU basketball hoodie, though she’d switched athletic shorts for the nicest pair of jeans she owned, but Roman immediately noticed that Sasha Banks looked like a million dollars without even trying.</p><p> </p><p>She wasn’t “hot” in the sense that Roman was used to. The girl he’d picked up the night previous, who Roman was almost positive was named either “Billy” or “Peyton,” was much more his speed. Sasha didn’t have the same top-heavy build as the ZBZ sister Reigns bedded, but she had a lithe, athletic frame that the massive Samoan didn’t know he was so attracted to until that very moment. Even in a knit tank top and jeans, Sasha was gorgeous, and Roman wasn’t sure how he’d missed it before that moment.</p><p> </p><p>The group could avoid it no longer; where were they going for dinner? After a few suggestions of varying degrees of reception, Seth Rollins made the proposal that would end up carrying the day.</p><p> </p><p>“What about Hibachi? They got one of those places around here?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hibachi?” Nikki Cross repeated, unfamiliar with the term.</p><p> </p><p>Dean chuckled. “Yeah. You know, the place where there’s a big-ass griddle and you sit around it and the chef comes out with the fancy knives and does all the tricks and cooks your food in front of you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh shit, they usually have sushi at those places, too,” Roman added, his face lighting up at the notion. </p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered again. “Yeah, Roman can eat his body weight in sushi. I’m pretty sure he’s actually done it once or twice.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa, Sasha, and Bayley all chimed in with agreement. Alexa also couldn’t contain her excitement and the prospect of several pots of Sake, a Japanese liquor that packed quite a kick. </p><p> </p><p>“So it’s decided, then?” Dean asked, looking around at all the faces to confirm. “Ruby, this is your visit, if you want something else we’ll get that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Dude, you know I love sushi. If they have Sapporo I’ll be in heaven.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean grinned. “It’s settled then. Let’s ride.”</p><p>
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</p><p>As it turned out, Sonny Ohno’s Sushi/Hibachi did have Sapporo, a Japanese style lager that paired incredibly well with that style cooking. It was a favorite of Ruby’s though no one at the table was really old enough to drink. They got by with fake ID’s and appearing much older than they actually were.</p><p> </p><p>They sat around a long, marble-ish table on three sides, Roman already several pieces of sushi in and everyone partaking in sake and beer. </p><p> </p><p>“This was a hell of an idea, Seth,” Dean admitted, grinning as he swiped a slice of california roll from Alexa’s plate. The blonde swatted at him lightly, but she marvelled inwardly at how much it already felt like she was “with” him. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t do this to yourself,” she intimated internally. “He’s a pledge and you just got away from Adam. Take some time.” At the same time, she thought about all the things she knew she wanted in a boyfriend, and how many of those boxes Dean Ambrose crossed off. “Just play it cool,” she reminded herself.</p><p> </p><p>The young Japanese chef who’d been servicing their large table began cooking their entrees right in front of them. Alexa, insides beginning to warm due to all the Sake she was imbibing, poured shots into small ceramic cups, the traditional serving apparatus for such a substance. </p><p> </p><p>“Ready?” She asked all those around her.</p><p> </p><p>“What’re we toasting to?” Roman returned, already half full of sushi and beer and not particularly caring about the answer to his question.</p><p> </p><p>“To new friends,” the tiny blonde answered, squeezing Dean’s leg affectionately under the table with her free hand as she proclaimed her response. “To new friends, new beginnings, and new outfits due to daddy’s bank account!”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone around the table laughed, though some did without knowing what it was they were really hearing. All the involved students threw their shots back like seasoned pros, though most of them made at least one disgusted face before finishing.</p><p> </p><p>“Goddamn,” Dean spat. “I do love that shit.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa giggled, the alcohol getting to her brain faster with every shot. After a moment, she leaned forward, making eye contact with Dean’s childhood friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Seth, this WAS a fantastic idea.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered. “Yeah, and Seth doesn’t have many good ideas, so we should celebrate this one.” The stringy-haired young man looked for their server, a lovely young Asian woman who introduced herself as “Kairi.”</p><p> </p><p>“Another please, ma’am,” Dean called, pointing toward their empty Sake pot to let her know what he was speaking of. “And fresh beers for me and my adopted sister.”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby rolled her eyes from in between Roman and Seth, a couple of seats down from Dean. “Good God. Also, can we talk about some of the other things Seth thought were ‘good ideas?’”</p><p> </p><p>Dean and Roman laughed heartily while Seth tried his best not to turn red. “Can we not?” He asked, wanting a subject change more than anything in the world.</p><p> </p><p>“There was the time he told Eve Torres he loved her for the first time, but he couldn’t get all the way through it without crying,” Roman began as Dean’s laughter grew even louder.</p><p> </p><p>“Who cries when they say ‘I love you’?” Dean fired back, wiping tears of laughter away from his own eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Ordinarily I would say ‘virgins who have never known the touch of another,’” Ruby chimed in, clearly enjoying Seth’s discomfort. “But since Seth is sitting right here, I’ll just say ‘good effort, little buddy.’”</p><p> </p><p>That statement drew another belly laugh from Dean and Roman, and even the ladies at the table who weren’t members of the Reigns family found the proceedings growing increasingly amusing. </p><p> </p><p>“Remember when he wanted to buy her a diamond ring after dating her a few weeks?” Dean struggled to get out through his fits of laughter. “What kind of whipped idiot thinks it’s a good idea to just carry an engagement ring around?”</p><p> </p><p>Now Sasha Banks couldn’t help herself. From the far end of the table, she chimed in. “You wanted to propose after only knowing a girl a few weeks?”</p><p> </p><p>“She was my first love, all right?” Seth shouted, taking a long swig of Sapporo beer after realizing how loud he was being in the restaurant. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman leaned forward in his chair, momentarily refocusing from his sushi and Sake coma to address his friend. “I knew what you weren’t supposed to do; propose after a few weeks of dating.”</p><p> </p><p>“Y’all leave the poor guy alone,” Ruby finally chimed in after another round of laughter. “It’s not his fault he’s a hopeless sap.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Seth began, before fully realizing what Ruby was saying. “Wait, what?”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby laughed and laid her head on Seth’s shoulder, just for a second. “It’s okay, bud. We still love you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck you guys,” Seth growled, though he was clearly pretending to be much more aggravated than he was. “I’m going to get a drink from the bar.”</p><p> </p><p>“Awww,” Dean called after Rollins mockingly. </p><p> </p><p>Bayley was almost overwhelmed. She’d had trouble making very many friends the year before, for a few reasons, and had turned down a bid to pledge Zeta Beta Zeta because her mother didn’t want her to be distracted from her studies. Now, as she watched all her new friends have so much fun, she wondered if she weren’t missing something by choosing to live life as a Resident Advisor instead of being more involved with on-campus life. </p><p> </p><p>“I need to go call my mom,” Bayley half mumbled, still deep in thought. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh, okay,” Sasha addled, confused by her roommate’s erratic action. </p><p> </p><p>Watching her best friend walk away, Sasha found herself with an empty seat between her and the giant Samoan. After a moment, during which the chef began serving up entrees, Sasha scooted next to Roman, though his back was to her and he didn’t notice for a moment. Finally, as a giant plate of steak, shrimp, rice, and even more sushi was set in front of the big islander.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hey Sasha,” Roman began quizzically as he grabbed his chopsticks and dipped sushi into his soy/wasabi mixture.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi Roman,” she returned, as sweetly as she could manage. “Could we talk for a second?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure,” Reigns responded, setting his utensils down and taking another long swig of Sapporo before giving Banks his full attention.</p><p> </p><p>“So, I’m sure you’ve noticed my roommate’s crush on you.”</p><p> </p><p>Stammering, Roman tried to think of a response that was both witty and emotionally detached. Before he could speak, however, Sasha cut him off.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, it’s fine. She can be a little ‘boy-crazy’ when a guy as good looking as you pays her attention. And she has no idea how attractive she is. She grew up really like, cut off from the world and her mom wouldn’t let her date in high school and I think it’s made her not make smart choices here in college. Just,” she paused, searching for the right way to say what she was thinking, “just be careful with her. If you plan on making a move, do it clearly and kindly. If you don’t have feelings for her, be nice to her anyway. Let her down gently. Then let me know and I’ll do the ‘clean up’ after. Okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Roman pondered this a moment, before scooping a giant bite of steak and rice and shoveling it into his mouth, holding up one finger so Sasha would know a response was coming. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re a good friend,” Roman finally rumbled, before downing a shot of Sake and a swig of beer. </p><p> </p><p>Sasha shrugged. “Well, she got me through a really hard time last year. My dad divorced my mom about five minutes after I moved out for school, and Bayley kept me sane the entire year. I’d kill for that kid,” she finished, her eyes wandering to where her roommate appeared to be having a very animated phone conversation in the lobby.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Bayley’s sweet, and she’s attractive, but I don’t think I’m attracted to her. Does that make sense?”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha nodded, trying to mask her relief. “It does. Like I said, try to keep being nice to her or she’ll think she did something wrong. Try telling her something that won’t hurt her feelings too much. Like, as much as it might irritate her for a day or two, telling her ‘you just want to be her friend’ would at least make sense to her. Then I’ll take it from there. We’ll have a movie night and drink wine and it’ll be okay.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman listened to the girl intently, marvelling at how much she seemed to regard Bayley’s well-being as a top priority. He had a lot of questions for Sasha, and would’ve happily talked to her for the next half hour, but just then Bayley came happily bounding back into the restaurant’s dining room, the grin on her face bright and genuine. </p><p> </p><p>What surprised Sasha the most about what happened next is that Bayley didn’t immediately return to her seat to share whatever good news she had with her. Instead, she knelt behind Nikki and Alexa and whispered excitedly into the tiny blonde’s ear.</p><p> </p><p>“Bayley, that’s so great!” Alexa blurted brightly. “Your mom was okay with it?”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley shook her head, a bit sadly. “Not really, but I told her I’m a grown-up and it’s my decision, not hers.” She waited a moment, recalling her whole conversation. “Then I asked her really nicely not to be too mad at me.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa laughed, and Nikki nodded her head in understanding. With that, Alexa turned toward the rest of the group and announced what Bayley had informed her of a few minutes prior.</p><p> </p><p>“So, Bayley has decided that with one day to go before it expires, she will accept her bid to pledge Zeta Beta Zeta!”</p><p> </p><p>The group, all of whom at this point were at least mildly intoxicated, sent up a louder than necessary cheer of approval as Bayley beamed with joy. Dean threw a friendly arm around the girl, and Alexa could barely contain her excitement.</p><p> </p><p>“I need to text Trish and let her know,” Alexa blurted, trying not to let her train of thought get away from her. “She’ll be so excited. We wondered all last year why you didn’t take your bid, and Trish will be beyond thrilled we got you this year!”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley’s grin could’ve probably been seen from space at that point, and Sasha was happy for her friend too. But, in that miniscule, tiny moment, she felt a twinge of something else. Was it jealousy? No. Concern that Bayley would abandon her once she made new friends at ZBZ? Not really. Sasha couldn't put a finger on what was going on in her mind, but she knew it was uncharted territory for her. </p><p> </p><p>The mocha-skinned beauty marveled at how much had changed, and how quickly.  These three boys from Florida had moved onto their hall and descended their brand of congenial chaos into their lives. Sasha had planned on a quiet year living with Bayley. And now? Who knew?</p><p>
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  <em> Originally I had another ending for this chapter, but I figured I’d go ahead and post and start fresh. I got a little fuzzy with what needed to be done this chapter, but I like what I have and now I can get to the next checkpoint, which I think you all will like. Your reviews were great for chapter 1! Looking forward to more feedback. </em>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3: New Developments</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Pledge classes take shape. But is everything as it seems?</p>
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  <b>The U </b>
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  <b>Chapter 3</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Saturday morning brought with it a hangover the likes of which Bayley Martinez had never experienced in her entire life. She’d been very sheltered by her mother up through her high school graduation, and hadn’t partied like a normal girl her age from California might have, but this was something new entirely.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit,” she moaned, kicking the covers off her body and sitting up slowly. </p><p> </p><p>“Morning, sorority girl,” Sasha returned, startling Bayley with the chipper tone in her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit,” Bayley repeated, trying to settle her stomach using sheer willpower. Unsuccessful, the Latina did her best to stand, though she felt the wobble in her legs as clearly as the knot in her stomach.</p><p> </p><p>“You said that already,” Sasha called glibly.</p><p> </p><p>“It bore repeating,” Bayley moaned. “Remind me to never drink that much again.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Sasha returned. She watched in amusement as Bayley shuffled slowly toward their shared bathroom. “Hey Bayley?”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Bayley groaned, beginning to wish for sweet death to take her.</p><p> </p><p>“Never drink that much again.”</p><p> </p><p>Rather than responding, Bayley simply held up a middle finger toward her best friend and closed the bathroom door.</p><p> </p><p>The next few minutes were amongst the most awkward Sasha could remember, as she cringed in mild amazement as the sounds of Bayley’s “digestive pyrotechnics” managed to echo throughout their dorm room. Praying for any reprieve from the disturbing noises emanating from the bathroom, Sasha’s pleas to a higher power were almost immediately answered as she felt her phone vibrate in her lap. </p><p> </p><p>It bugged Sasha that her heart jumped when she saw who’d sent her the message. “Roman,” she muttered, shaking her head slightly. She’d had a very good time with the boy, what little time she’d actually gotten to spend with him, and she could see herself developing feelings for him, if not for the issue of her roommate clearly having a crush on him. Sasha was, before anything else, a loyal friend, and there was no way she would betray her best friend for any guy, no matter how devastatingly attractive she found him. </p><p> </p><p>Thumbing through her apps, Sasha opened her message from Roman;</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Hey. It’s Roman. U said text u sometime. It’s ‘sometime’ right now, so, ‘sup? Good talking to u last night. Thx 4 the headsup w Bayley. She’s a real nice kid, I’m just not sure I want something that srs. I’m glad I’ll have ur help if I need it. Maybe we can get a coffee &amp; figure it all out. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>That last part stabbed Sasha right through what she assumed was her left ventricle. All last year, she’d waited in vain for boys to show interest in her. She’d had a very traditional upbringing, meaning that it would’ve been unheard of for her to approach a guy, even if she’d known what to say if she tried. But this, somehow, felt a bit different. Gathering her emotions, she formulated a response that she felt was friendly, yet clear in it’s message.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Hi Roman. It was nice talking to you, too. IF you want to get together to talk about how to deal with my best friend’s sensitive nature, I’d be more than happy to. I’m sure you understand, however, that our conversation needs to be about Bayley. Okay? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Her emotions were growing more conflicted by the second. Roman was super hot, and seemed fun and kind and all the things she liked in a man, but she would never, ever hurt someone she held as dearly as Bayley. She did occasionally enjoy messing with her, though.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Bayley?” She called, noting that the horrifying noises echoing from the bathroom had stopped.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?” Bayley returned weakly through the door.</p><p> </p><p>“You wanna go get breakfast? I hear it’s four cheese omelette day in the cafeteria!”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha’s wry smile grew brighter as there was a beat of silence, before her roommate’s voice called back at her.</p><p> </p><p>“I hate you.”</p><p> </p><p>The sounds she’d been making previously returned, maybe more violently than before, as Sasha laughed to herself, rolling her eyes at  the morning’s events…</p><p>
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</p><p>For the second day in a row, Dean Ambrose woke up in a bed that wasn’t his. He could feel the warm breath of Alexa Bliss tickling his chest as her head lay daintily on his pectoral. </p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit,” he muttered, to no one in particular. </p><p> </p><p>“There’s no way it’s morning already,” Alexa half-whispered, rubbing the sleep from her bloodshot eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“What did you do to me?” Dean asked, mostly joking.  </p><p> </p><p>“Do you really need me to explain it to you?” Alexa kidded, the toothy smile making it clear she was kidding the boy. “Okay. Well, when a man and a woman are attracted to each oth-”</p><p> </p><p>Her monologue was broken up by Dean’s hand finding the soft spot between her lower ribs and hip bone, making her laugh uncontrollably.</p><p> </p><p>“Not that, jerk,” Dean grumbled affably. “I think we’re both in the ‘advanced’ course on that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Agreed,” Alexa managed to get out. Dean had stopped tickling her, but she hadn’t fully recovered. She did manage to hold her hand up for a celebratory high five, and Dean slapped it enthusiastically with his own.</p><p> </p><p>“I just haven’t been this hungover in ages,” he continued. “I’m not sure I could do that again tonight.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa snickered playfully. “Good, because tonight is bid night. I’ll be occupied until at least eleven meeting our new pledges and welcoming them to ZBZ. You’ll be wherever you accept a bid to at least that late.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded. “Kappa Delta. Roman too.”</p><p> </p><p>“And Seth?” Alexa asked, her curiosity unable to remain internalized. </p><p> </p><p>“He says he’s going with us, but there’s at least part of him that wants to go Lambda Chi.” </p><p> </p><p>“I get it,” the pixie agreed. “The Lambda Chi sales pitch is extremely convincing, but the bad part about it is that you then have to john Lambda Chi.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean chuckled. “Yeah, I get it.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa planted a light row of kisses on Dean’s abdomen, before grinning back at him.</p><p> </p><p>“But there’s always after.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah?” He asked, genuinely interested. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” she lilted. “I think I might like spending time with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You think?” Dean returned. “After some of the things you were shouting last night, I figured I was your...what was it? ‘Personal Dick Dealer?’ I figured you were pretty sure.”</p><p> </p><p>The red in Alexa’s cheeks now rivalled the highlights in her golden hair. “Yeah, last night was fun.” </p><p> </p><p>Dean sat up, resting his back against the headboard. Alexa followed, sliding under his arm and slithering her sinewy arms around his waist. “So, I know we talked about a ‘mourning period’ or whatever, but it kinda scares me that you’re going to coffee with your ex. Like, what if he talks you into getting back together?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa laughed again, before seeing the serious look in Dean’s steely eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“That’d be pretty hard, considering I called him and cancelled last night.”</p><p> </p><p>The color returned to the young man’s face. “Really?” His heart returned to its normal position, having absorbed the good news along with the rest of him.</p><p> </p><p>Alexa nodded again, biting her lip somewhat shyly before her mouth formed a bright, almost girlish grin. “Yeah. I told him there was no point in trying to talk this out if I have no interest in being with him anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered, trying his best to maintain his cool exterior while the entirety of his internal being was doing jumping jacks at a record pace.</p><p> </p><p>“How’d he take it?”</p><p> </p><p>Now Alexa chuckled wryly, shaking her head before resting it on Dean’s torso again. “How do you think? He suspects I’m already seeing someone and told me ‘this isn’t over until he says it is.’”</p><p> </p><p>Dean planted a kiss on the top of Alexa’s golden-locked head, causing another giggle from the fiery cheerleader.</p><p> </p><p>“Part of me hopes he figures out that it’s me taking his spot.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa scoffed, continuing to be amazed at Dean’s brazenness. “I figure he will before long.” She reluctantly began slowly inching toward the edge of the bed, groaning in displeasure at having to begin her day.</p><p> </p><p>“You wanna go get breakfast again?” Dean continued, switching gears from what could’ve been a tenuous subject.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t,” Alexa replied, a dejected tone commandeering her voice. “We have to make sure we’re ready for bid night event tonight.” She waited for Dean to sit up, making sure his feet were on the bedroom floor, before sliding her arms around his neck and kissing him as deeply as she’d ever kissed anyone without having brushed her teeth first. Pulling away, she continued. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll be at KD for their bid night party. It seems likely to have lots of opportunity for two people to sneak away and have more ‘fun time.’”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded. “Sounds good to me.” </p><p> </p><p>The next few minutes were filled with whatever routine morning activities the pair could get done discreetly and quietly. Dean had only his clothes from the previous evening, which were actually in much worse shape than he remembered. And that was without taking into account his torn undershirt, which Alexa had apparently ripped from his body in their rush to get back into bed after last night’s dinner. Loosely holding Dean’s calloused hand, the pint-sized beauty led her new love interest down the opulent stairs to the main hall of the Zeta Beta Zeta house.</p><p> </p><p>“You go on in and get some breakfast,” Alexa instructed Dean, though she wasn’t really trying to boss him around. “Tell Ramona to add it to my tally.”</p><p> </p><p>Confused, Dean simply nodded and walked hesitantly toward the double doors that led to the immaculate ZBZ dining area. </p><p> </p><p>Still waking, Ambrose could feel some fifty sets of eyes on him as he went through the serving line for breakfast, noting with some degree of amusement how much more organized this process was at ZBZ than at KD or any other house he’d visited. Every Greek house was responsible for its own “meal plans,” and the quality of dietary options offered could be a major selling point for potential rushees, depending on their priorities. </p><p> </p><p>Dean was incredibly impressed by the entire operation at ZBZ. He received his tray, sat at a corner table, and waited for Alexa to join him.</p><p> </p><p>The pair spent the next few moments in quiet conversation, seeking desperately to avoid the stares and potential for awkward interactions with Alexa’s sorority sisters. Dean was even glad to see Nikki Cross, who looked every bit as bad as Dean felt after a wild night of beer and Sake. </p><p> </p><p>Dean’s head was pounding. Alexa had given him Advil and a long, compassionate kiss on the forehead in an effort to soothe him, but it hadn’t done much yet in terms of easing his discomfort. Eating had helped some, but Ambrose was still in the process of coming to terms with the fact that he was going to feel like shit the rest of the day when a very concerned looking AJ Lee strode toward Alexa with what looked to be dire urgency.</p><p> </p><p>“Um, hey Lex…”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hey AJ,” Alexa returned. “This is Dean.”</p><p> </p><p>AJ nodded curtly. “Hi Dean.” She returned her attention back to where she’d intended it. “Adam’s outside.”</p><p> </p><p>The color rushed from Alexa’s face. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, he’s out there dressed all nice with flowers and he says he’s not leaving until he talks to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered and cracked his knuckles. “Please let me go tell him why you cancelled on him, Lex.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa took Dean’s hand in hers and squeezed, diverting his attention back to her. “No way. We don’t need that kind of drama outside our house. I’ll talk to him. Come with me, though, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded, before picking up his and Alexa’s tray and disposing of them. “This is some serious bullshit,” he mused to himself. Adam Cole was a lot of bad, stupid things, but he was a teammate, and there would almost certainly be a political toll to pay regarding Alexa and their new arrangement.</p><p> </p><p>Alexa led Dean through the parlor, out the front door, and down the porch steps, where Adam Cole was waiting. </p><p> </p><p>“What a fucking rube,” Dean mused to himself. Cole had his hair tied back, and was adorned with the latest in “frat boy chic;” sport coat, brightly colored dress shirt, khakis, and loafers with no socks. Cole was Lambda Chi, through and through, and attire was part of the game.</p><p> </p><p>“Alexa,” Adam called frantically, trying to get the girl’s attention.</p><p> </p><p>“Adam, I told you I didn’t want to talk this out with you. We’re fucking done. That’s it. End of story.”</p><p> </p><p>Cole rolled his eyes and shrugged his arms at his side, exasperated by the resolute manner by which he’d been so quickly dismissed. </p><p> </p><p>“I told you I wanted to explain-”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa cut him off. “Explain? What explanation could there possibly fucking be for getting caught balls-deep in whoever Nikki saw you with?”</p><p> </p><p>Adam drew breath, possibly to deny the allegations set before him.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t fucking deny it, Adam,” Alexa continued. “She fucking saw you.”</p><p> </p><p>Adam shook his head and rubbed his brow with his free hand, clearly exasperated by how vociferously Alexa was coming after him. </p><p> </p><p> “Look,” he began cautiously, “that was a misunderstanding. And why would you listen to that psycho Nikki? She’s always been jealous of-”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa didn’t even let the backup quarterback finish his assertion. “We’re done, Adam. You’ve already been replaced. And this one’s an upgrade from you, if I’m being completely honest.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered, trying to appear less cocky than he felt. </p><p> </p><p>“This motherfucker?” Adam asked, the rage in his mind overflowing into his body. “This freshman fucking scrub?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa grinned wickedly at Cole. “Yep. And I assure you, when it comes to giving me what I need, he isn’t the scrub.”</p><p> </p><p>Adam Cole’s face turned as angry red as the highlighted tips of Alexa’s hair. Dean did his best to appear nonchalant as he chomped on a piece of gum he’d swiped from Alexa’s purse. The older boy poked his pointer finger in Dean’s chest.</p><p> </p><p>“This shit isn’t over, motherfucker. Not by a damn sight.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean gave him a condescending snicker and a wry grin, which quickly morphed into an arrogant smirk. </p><p> </p><p>“I truly hope it’s not,” Dean half-mumbled as Alexa rubbed her thumb along his, their hands still interlocked by the fingers. </p><p> </p><p>Adam Cole threw the bouquet of flowers against the ground, as though the bushel of blooming assorted roses was a football after having scored a touchdown. Before he walked away, Cole buried his pointer finger in Dean’s chest again.</p><p> </p><p>“This isn’t over, freshman. Not by a long, long shot.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean shrugged. “I mean, that’s pretty much what you told her,” he nodded at Alexa as he spoke, “and it still seems like it IS over. Did I get it wrong?”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck you,” Cole spat before storming off in a huff. </p><p> </p><p>Dean chuckled to himself as one of the supposed leaders of his football team walked in the opposite direction like a grade school bully having been punched in the nose. He stopped briefly, looking back at his ex-girlfriend and the Freshman he knew from the football team.</p><p> </p><p>“See you real soon, Ambrose,” Adam shouted from over his shoulder before disappearing into the front yard leading up to the Lambda Chi house. From where Dean was standing, it looked like the brothers of the Lambda Chi fraternity were preparing for a massive event.</p><p> </p><p>“Hmmm,” Dean mumbled to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Alexa asked, squeezing his hand in affection.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, he’s the Vice President of Lambda Chi, right?” The tiny blonde nodded as Dean paused.</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” Alexa asked, after Ambrose remained silent a moment longer than she’d expected.</p><p> </p><p>“That just seems like the kind of thing that might try to bite me in the ass later. He’s leading the rival fraternity of the one I’m gonna join. If this were a book or TV show we’d call it ‘foreshadowing.’ As it is it’s just gonna be super shitty running into him at football and the dozens of physical confrontations KD will have with them.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa nodded again, raising her brow in deep consideration. “Last year the KD’s and LamChi’s got into a fistfight at the spring carnival.”</p><p> </p><p>“That doesn’t seem so bad,” Dean fired back.</p><p> </p><p>Alexa rolled her eyes. “That was our entire Greek system’s charity fundraiser. We were raising money for kids with cancer and those two bunches of morons decided to have it out then and there.”</p><p> </p><p>Despite himself, Dean got a big kick out of that mental image. Alexa shook her head again, snickering in annoyed amusement at his reaction.</p><p> </p><p>Saying their goodbyes, and planning their rendezvous for late that night, the pair of lovers kissed each other farewell and swore they’d see each other later that day. For each of them, however, the thought remained in the back of their head; was jumping into something like what they were appearing to leap into really what was best for either of them?</p><p> </p><p>By Saturday afternoon, final preparations for accepting bids were occurring all up and down Fraternity Row. Trish Stratus was overseeing the transformation of House ZBZ into a welcoming, festive atmosphere. The Lambda Chi’s held a House-wide meeting in the great room, with the feature presentation being a powerpoint highlighting everyone they’d given a bid to, their pictures, the names of their parents, what their parents did for a living, anything that gave them an edge when it came to recruiting the top incoming freshmen every year.</p><p> </p><p>At KD, the story was a bit different, though the reasons remained similar. Instead of a prepared slideshow for friends, the brothers simply passed around cell phones with pictures they’d taken from “pref night” and gave their opinion of each prospective member.</p><p> </p><p>“I like him,” Drew McIntyre rumbled, passing the device to the right.</p><p> </p><p>“Ehh,” Tucker Knight intimated, though he was grinning. </p><p> </p><p>“What? You liked him better than anyone! You two ended up drinking beer from one of the empty wastebaskets and singing Katy Perry at the top of your lungs.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah,” Tucker returned, snickering with recollection of the fun he’d had the evening before. </p><p> </p><p>“So we’re a ‘yes’ on Otis Doza-... Doze-...Doze...n’t matter how you pronounce his last name! He’s one of us. Any objections?” Christian Cage asked the room, surveying back and forth with his eyes. Seeing none, he wrote “Otis” in big letters under the “yes” column.</p><p> </p><p>The “yes” list was growing. As little as Cage or any Kappa Delta cared about things like that, KD Nationals had been riding the leadership of Stamford’s chapter to expand their membership. Christian himself had been one of only nine pledges in his class, and the fraternity never put nearly as much stock in formalities as they probably should’ve. Now, it’d been made very clear that their house’s survival depended on increasing the dues paid into the treasury every year. </p><p> </p><p>Shuffling through the pictures on his phone, Cage found the next candidate.</p><p> </p><p>“This is my fuckin’ guy here. Dean Ambrose. Good athlete. Drank several actives under the table on ‘pref night.’”</p><p> </p><p>“And I think he’s givin’ it good to that cheerleader what broke up with Adam Cole,” McIntyre added, smirk growing.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Christian nodded, his own sneer betraying his satisfaction with Cole’s pain. There hadn’t been any love lost between the two for a long time, and that was before the fisticuffs at the charity carnival the spring previous. “Yeah, he is. Which is a positive, right?”</p><p> </p><p>From the sofa across from Christian, Dash Wilder chimed in. “I mean, I would’ve liked a shot with Tinkerbell, but it’s better than Adam Cole getting to walk around with a hot piece like that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, and we’ve been trying to stoke the ‘ZBZ’ fire for a while,” Christian added.</p><p> </p><p>“Isn’t your girlfriend a ZBZ?” Luke Gallows asked, from right next to Wilder. </p><p> </p><p>Christian rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but she says she can’t ‘play favorites.’ The Lambda Chi’s are the top fraternity house, and Trish has to keep a close relationship with them if she wants to keep ZBZ at number one, too.”</p><p> </p><p>Wilder shook his head. “Some ‘Game of Thrones’ shit, man. We’re tryin’ to catch the Lannisters and the Tyrells.”</p><p> </p><p>“Word,” Cage intimated, a far away look glazing over his eyes. “Season Eight is gonna kick ass.”</p><p> </p><p>All the active brothers gathered in the room echoed their agreement. </p><p> </p><p>“They can’t possibly fuck that up, right?” Gallows asked no one in particular.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys, as entertainin’ as it is to watch you all spill hot air, we got ta’ get through this entire pledge class,” McIntyre admonished. </p><p> </p><p>“Fair enough, man,” Cage conceded. “All in favor of Ambrose?”</p><p> </p><p>Every KD in the room nodded and loudly spoke “aye” in almost perfect unison.</p><p> </p><p>“Put him on the list,” Cage informed McIntyre, who hastily scratched “Ambrose” in the “yes” column.</p><p> </p><p>“So now we gotta talk about his friends,” Gallows reminded Cage.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah. I liked the big Samoan guy. Had a real ‘Aquaman’ feel to him,” Cage fired back.</p><p> </p><p>“That might be racist, but I don’t disagree,” Wilder concurred. “I say he’s in.”</p><p> </p><p>“Anyone see anything they didn’t like?” Cage inquired of the entire room.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, I don’t like that he’s better lookin’ than me and might funnel women away,” Scott Dawson chimed in. Scott was amongst the three dozen or so actives not sitting on a couch, but standing in the landing behind the den. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s a chance I’m willing to take!” Cage called, causing a rousing laugh that echoed throughout the great room. “I say he’s a ‘take.’ Anyone disagree?”</p><p> </p><p>Silence overtook the laughter, as no one wanted to make any sound that could be construed as a vote against Roman Reigns. </p><p> </p><p>“Put him on the list!” Cage announced, as the crowd cheered again. With every moment that passed, the throng of KD brothers grew more raucous, as most of them had been drinking from the moment they woke up.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, we gotta look at this other guy. Seth Rollins! He was the one with Reigns and Ambrose all night,” Cage informed the crowd, trying to move this process along as quickly as possible. </p><p> </p><p>“Fuck that guy!” Tucker Knight rejoined the conversation, stopping to do a shot of brown liquor before talking. “He cornered me by the keg for like fifteen minutes asking me about shit like ‘alumni membership’ and ‘job placement programs,” Knight explained, using his fingers to make quotation marks wherever applicable. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, and I hate his stupid fucking hair!” Dawson chimed in. “If we bid him, can we make him cut that shit? With the blonde streak and the ‘man bun?’ I mean, I gotta be seen with the guy!”</p><p> </p><p>The crowd laughed again. Cage allowed another moment of dissention, before standing and motioning with his arms for the crowd to quiet. </p><p> </p><p>“Look, I know he isn’t the slam dunk the other two guys are, but I got to talk to him for a bit, and he’s not shitty or anything. He’s alright.” The crowd groaned, again nearly synchronized, before Cage finished his thought. “Settle! Settle!” He looked around the room, making eye contact with as many brothers as possible. “Look, is he perfect? No. Is he even really someone I like right now? Absolutely not. But, I got the sense that Dean and Roman won’t accept bids if we don’t offer Rollins, too. They’re a package deal.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ugh,” Gallows groaned. “You remember that shit last year when we offered Curt Hawkins AND Nese-” he pointed behind him with his thumb, where Tony Nese was standing, up to this very moment nearly oblivious as to what was going on, “because we wanted Nese but we knew him and Hawkins had been boys since middle school? And then what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Cage shook his head slowly. “Look, that was partially my fault. How could we have known that Curt Hawkins was gonna end up getting kicked out of school for selling drugs?”</p><p> </p><p>Gallows was clearly irritated now. “I don’t mind that he sold drugs. I mind that he wouldn’t give me a discount. And I especially minded his supplier showing up here after Hawkins got arrested, claiming he was gonna ‘find out who ratted’ and kill us all.” Gallows took a long pull of beer before calming down. “Look, all I’m saying is that we shouldn’t offer a guy just to offer him. Lambda Chi does shit like that. Bunch of golf-shirt wearing douchenozzles with too much money and not enough guts. Let them have Rollins.”</p><p> </p><p>Several KD brothers chimed their agreement. Cage shook his head yet again, growing exasperated with his brothers.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, let’s bid him. And if he sucks, we’ll ‘ding’ him out and no one gets their feelings hurt. Except him, but that’s kind of the point.”</p><p> </p><p>Gallows considered this a moment. He held no real office in the KD power structure, but he was an extremely influential Senior, and was also one of the captains of the football team, and so his approval was something Cage needed, even if only for convenience’s sake.</p><p> </p><p>“I like it. Put him on the list,” Gallows acquiesced. </p><p> </p><p>This debate went on another few hours. Finally, as the sun grew late in the sky, the members of Kappa Delta had a list of twenty names they were happy with as their next potential pledge class. </p><p> </p><p>“Let’s get ‘em,” Cage announced with glee as he adjourned the meeting. “Everyone have their assignments?”</p><p> </p><p>Affirmative grunts rang out all around him. As they dispersed to hunt across campus for their pledge prey, a cautious optimism began to permeate through the brothers, each one a bit hopeful that this class would live up to the lofty expectations…</p><p>
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</p><p>Across campus, a quartet of Zeta Beta Zeta’s came spilling out of Trish Stratus’ white SUV like so many pee-wee soccer players out of a minivan. Their mission; handing out gift baskets to the handful of hopeful pledges living in Orndorff Hall. </p><p> </p><p>“So this is where your new guy lives, Lexi,” Trish mused, taking in the well-worn brick building for the first time in a while. </p><p> </p><p>“He’s not my new guy,” Alexa protested, though the grin on her face sent a contradictory message. “Officially. Yet.”</p><p> </p><p>The entire troupe shared a giggle. One by one, they filled their arms with gift baskets for their pledges and strode into the dorm building as though they owned the place.</p><p> </p><p>Not all of the young women were headed to the same room. Over the years, ZBZ alumnae from one end of the nation to the other had found that pairs of women often worked the best. That meant that only Trish Stratus and Alexa Bliss would be visiting the Resident Advisor dorm on the first floor.</p><p> </p><p>With a firm, courteous knock, one which Alexa was sure Trish had been taught by some senior when she herself was a freshman, Trish awaited the door opening with the tranquil poise befitting her status as ZBZ president. When she heard the doorknob begin to turn, Alexa marvelled at how proficiently Trish assumed a bright smile and somehow even managed to make her general countenance even more pleasant.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi!” The voluptuous senior greeted Bayley, who was somewhat shocked by the appearance of the blonde duo on a Saturday.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Bayley returned, still deciding on what she thought was happening.</p><p> </p><p>“I wanted to come by and tell you how wonderful it was to meet you the other night at the ZBZ house,” Trish continued, now in full “recruiting” mode. “We really enjoyed having you there.”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley allowed a small genuine smile, starting to mentally piece together what was happening. Her hangover had been slowly dissipating all afternoon, and there was a ray of hope that she might not die a slow and painful death, as she’d believed since she woke up was to be her fate. </p><p> </p><p>“I enjoyed being there,” Bayley fired back jovially. “And I really appreciate you guys accepting my bid a year late.”</p><p> </p><p>Stratus shrugged, as though it were no big deal. “We’re always happy to accept a young lady of your quality.” She extended her arms toward Bayley, offering her the pink-wrapped gift basket she’d brought from the car. “We just wanted to bring you a few things to let you know how happy we are to have you.”</p><p> </p><p>Bayley nodded. “And the other thing you texted me about?”</p><p> </p><p>Now it was Alexa’s turn to speak. She stepped into the spacious domicile, past the bewildered but overjoyed Bayley, to where Sasha Banks was at her desk, headphones on and completely oblivious to the goings-on in the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Alexa began quietly, gently placing her petite hand on Sasha’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit!” Sasha exclaimed, clearly startled by the ZBZ girls’ presence.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry,” Alexa lilted as Trish and Bayley did their best not to laugh right in the surprised young woman’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” Sasha returned, exhaling deeply. “What’s up?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, when Bayley told us she wanted to pledge, we started asking ourselves about you, too. Why didn’t you tell us about you being a 4.0 GPA student, or a National Honor Society member?”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa tried not to feel too put off by Sasha’s cool exterior, and glanced over at her “big,” who gave her a nod and smile of encouragement.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” Alexa intoned, extending a basket toward her magenta-haired target, “we’d love to have you join ZBZ as well. Here is a ‘welcome’ basket and an official bid.”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha didn’t like showing outward emotion. There were things in her past that kept her from feeling comfortable expressing that she was happy or joyful, but inwardly she was jumping for joy. Last year had been tough, in terms of making friends, and Sasha didn’t ever really let on how hard that was for her.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks,” she emoted externally, trying not to let the excitement within her spill over. “What do I do with this ‘bid’?”</p><p> </p><p>“Bring it to the ZBZ House tonight,” Alexa informed her new acquaintance. “Bayley’s coming to turn her pledge card in. Come with her.”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha grinned, though it was as reserved as such a gesture could be.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure. Anything else?”</p><p> </p><p>Alexa shook her head in the negative. “No. Just be ready to have a TON of fun at the ZBZ/KD pledge mixer tonight!”</p><p> </p><p>Sasha nodded. “I will.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Alexa and Trish nodded, their work accomplished. As they left, however, a third temporary resident entered Bayley and Sasha’s abode, her attention peaked with the pair of blonde hotties occupying the quarters she was a guest in.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh hey, Ruby!” Alexa called, genuinely excited to see Dean’s adopted sister.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Ruby returned cautiously. In her experience, it paid to be guarded with the girls Dean had bedded, but after having spent some time with Alexa the night before, the tattooed, raven-haired beauty was as comfortable with the diminutive blonde addressing her as she’d been with anyone in a long time. “What’s going on with you guys?”</p><p> </p><p>“Trish, this is Ruby Riott. She’s Dean’s adopted sister. I met her last night and I already think she’s the coolest thing since aviator sunglasses.”</p><p> </p><p>Trish chuckled. “That’s high praise, coming from Alexa Bliss,” she informed Ruby, slowly striding closer to the newest addition to their visit. “Do you go to school here?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah,” Ruby shook her head in the negative as she leaned against the cinder block wall. “I’m in Junior College about an hour from here. We have Zeta Beta there, too, it’s just not as big a deal.”</p><p> </p><p>Trish nodded, understanding where Ruby was coming from. “So you’re just here visiting?”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby nodded again, before shrugging her shoulders. “I wanna transfer in here as soon as I can, hopefully next fall or even this spring, but right now I’m just a visitor.”</p><p> </p><p>“But you want to be here and you’re gonna work hard to make sure you meet the lofty expectations SU can have for transferring in?” Trish inquired, trying to size up the other girl.</p><p> </p><p>“Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” Ruby replied. </p><p> </p><p>Trish grinned and nodded. “Okay.” Without missing a beat, the picturesque Senior pulled a small white envelope from her back pocket, before pulling it’s single carded content out and signing it, indicating that whoever held that card was a personal friend of Stratus’s and should be allowed whatever privileges came with that. </p><p> </p><p>“This is a ‘snap bid,’” Stratus explained intently. “If you make it here by January, or even next fall, you can give this to whoever the ‘Rush Chair’ is-”</p><p> </p><p>“This year that’s me!” Alexa exclaimed, having joined her blonde partner in the hall. “I’m rush chair!”</p><p> </p><p>Trish giggled at Alexa’s unbridled excitement over being that year’s Rush Chair, and even Ruby had to suppress a genuine toothy grin over how thrilled the tiny Junior seemed to be at her current position. </p><p>
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</p><p>“Good to know,” Ruby responded coolly, not sure of how to deal with Alexa’s excitement. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Trish fired back, finally running out of things to say. “It was really nice to meet you. Hopefully we see you in January.”</p><p> </p><p>“I hope so too,” Ruby said politely, not wanting to leave a bad taste in the mouth of any of Dean’s potential friends.</p><p> </p><p>With all their bases now covered, Trish and Alexa traipsed daintily out of Orndorff and back out into the outside world. </p><p>
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</p><p>“Holy shit,” Roman Reigns muttered to himself, staring into his phone screen in disbelief. </p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t wrong. He, Dean, and Seth had all received the same text from a phone he assumed was being operated by someone in KD. It had to- the- letter instructions about the next steps, should they want to accept their bids, and Roman was reading them intently, making sure to follow them to the letter.</p><p> </p><p>Conversely, Dean Ambrose was groaning out loud at the idea of having to put on khakis and a nice shirt just to go back to the KD House, noting that the best things that had happened to him that weekend were because he wasn’t wearing clothes at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, all I’m saying is it’s fucking bullshit,” Dean informed his adopted brother. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s not that bad,” Roman returned, doing his best not to roll his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s exactly that bad,” Dean fired back. “I have no idea why it’s SO fucking important that we dress nice just so they can tell us we’re pledges and they hate us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Tradition, man,” Roman rumbled, checking his appearance in the mirror.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuuuuck that, dude,” Dean shot across the room, though he was now buttoning his dress shirt, appearing to comply with what Kappa Delta was asking. “Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s… almost insightful,” Roman observed. As he prepared to speak again, it occurred to him that Seth Rollins was oddly quiet.</p><p> </p><p>“Anything to add, Seth?” Roman verbalized externally, unsure of why his normally boisterous friend was being so silent.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah. Not really,” Rollins rebuked Roman. </p><p> </p><p>Roman nodded. “Okay. I’m headed out,” he concluded, reaching for his wallet and phone. “Meet you guys at KD later?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean nodded his agreement. “Yeah. Yeah, that works. Where you headed?”</p><p> </p><p>The big Samoan shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe grab a snack before we have to meet up with the rest of the pledges.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean snickered. “Grab me a Doritos and Diet DP.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck you,” Roman retorted. “I’m not your snack bitch.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m paying,” Dean added jovially, fishing a green bill from his wallet and handing it to Roman. “With your cheap ass,” Ambrose muttered.</p><p> </p><p>Reigns scoffed good-naturedly. “You want Nacho cheese or Cool Ranch?”</p><p> </p><p>“Man, fuck a Cool Ranch,” Dean rattled back even before Reigns was completely finished with his question. “What kind of shitty Ranch produces that flavor? Probably some bullshit farm in Vermont or some shit. Only raises ‘Karens’ and politicians. And like, people who use the phrase ‘living my best life’ unironically and shit...”</p><p> </p><p>Ambrose realized he was going on one of his infamous tirades when he looked around and noticed both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns staring at him, mouths agape. Regaining his train of thought, Dean nodded coolly, attempting to reassert his detached exterior.</p><p> </p><p>“So yeah, Nacho cheese. Thanks.”</p><p> </p><p>Roman started for the door, though he didn’t immediately take his eyes off Dean. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay, man. I’m gonna head over to ‘the Tower,’ pick up snacks, and meet you guys out front. Seth, you sure you don’t want anything?”</p><p> </p><p>Rollins shook his head in the negative without raising his eyes from his phone. He was clearly deep in conversation with someone, but wasn’t being particularly forthcoming with any details in that moment. </p><p> </p><p>“Nah. I ate earlier.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, man,” Reigns offered, a hint of resignation in his voice. Seth sometimes went into a slight melancholy that neither of his two best friends really had any understanding of. Reigns bounded out the door solely focused on satiating his hunger before their big night.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright, man?” Dean asked Seth again, the latter’s unnerving silence beginning to grate on Dean’s nerves.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine, dude. I just got a lot on my mind.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Dean conceded. When Seth was closed up like this, there was no getting him to talk. It had been that way as long as Ambrose had known the young man, and the scruffy linebacker wasn’t about to be late to his mysterious rendezvous with his future KD brothers.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay man, suit yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the two made final touch ups to their hair, and Dean couldn’t help but notice that Seth was dressed much more nicely than either he or Roman, and there was still something about Seth’s overall demeanor that Dean found off-putting…</p><p>
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</p><p>“Holy shit.” That was the prevailing thought on Dean Ambrose’s mind as he and his pair of best friends strolled toward the KD House. Seth Rollins still hadn’t cheered up in any noticeable way, and now both Dean and Roman were afraid he was seriously going to annoy the KD brothers with his melancholy.</p><p> </p><p>“Dude, can you cheer up?” Roman spat at his friend. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah,” Rollins replied, distracted by his phone screen. “Actually, I left my wallet in the room. I’ll catch up with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You want us to go with you?” Ambrose inquired. </p><p> </p><p>“Nah, you guys go on ahead. I’ll meet up with you later.”</p><p> </p><p>Confused, and now even more irritated, Dean Ambrose simply threw his hands up at his sides and shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok, man, we’ll see you later.”</p><p> </p><p>Seth hurriedly walked back toward Orndorff Hall, his stomach tight with anxiety at what was yet to occur that night. As he turned the corner away from fraternity row, his train of thought was interrupted by a black SUV hopping the curb and coming to a standstill directly in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>“You Rollins?” Seth recognized the face of Adam Cole. What he wasn’t sure about was why the Lambda Chi’s Range Rover was occupying the sidewalk Rollins was attempting to traverse.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Rollins returned, the unsurety in his voice too clear to be mistaken as anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Before anyone else said a word, three more men jumped from the back of the black vehicle. Seth felt something like a hood or pillowcase drop over his head, and he was too shocked to put up much fight as the trio roughly picked him up and threw him haphazardly into the vehicle…</p><p>
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  <em> Sorry. I reworked this last section like four times. Reviews are always appreciated. </em>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4: Pledge of Allegiance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dean, Seth, and Roman reveal their fraternity choices, but they might not all be on the same page...</p>
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  <b>The U Chapter 4</b>
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  <em>
    <span>Great view numbers this past chapter. You guys are great. Most of you.</span>
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    <span>Added the rest of the chapter. Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy. </span>
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  <span>“This is so exciting!” That was the prevailing and only thought on Bayley Martinez’s mind as she gazed up from the sidewalk in front of the sprawling Victorian mansion that housed Zeta Beta Zeta. </span>
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  <span>“I heard that they’re one of only four actual sorority houses on campus. All the other ‘houses’ actually live together in women’s dorms,” Sasha replied, every bit as taken aback by the sight of the towering home as Bayley appeared to be. “They’ve been here since before local law made more than five girls living in the same private home classified as ‘a brothel.’”</span>
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  <span>Bayley chuckled wryly. “Is that really a thing?”</span>
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  <span>Sasha nodded and gave a subtle half-smile. “Yup. Apparently. The Gamma Psi’s take up the whole third floor of our building.”</span>
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  <span>“Oh!” Bayley exclaimed, making a mental connection for the first time. “I thought those girls all just really like each other and all joined the same Sorority.”</span>
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  <span>Sasha stared at Bayley, unsure of whether or not she was serious.</span>
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  <span>“What?” Bayley cried in return, completely dumbfounded as to why Sasha wouldn’t think she was being sincere.</span>
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  <span>“I love you, Bayley,” Sasha returned, sliding her arms around her friends shoulders and embracing her, lightly, but still tightly enough that Bayley knew her friend meant it.</span>
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  <span>Before Bayley could return the sentiment, however, the pair was joined excitedly by Alexa Bliss, who’d completely lost her sense of composure and came bounding down the front stairs, overjoyed to see two of the girls she’d recruited at the last minute take her up on her offer. </span>
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  <span>“Bayley! Sasha! I’m so glad you made it out! You both look so pretty!”</span>
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  <span>Both Bayley and Sasha were adorned in ZBZ colors; pink with baby blue trim, as they’d been asked to do on their written invitation. Both women had put serious effort into their hair, and even applied makeup for the first time that semester. In short, Sasha and Bayley were both that kind of radiant that only youth can truly facilitate. </span>
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  <span>“What’d you get me into?” Sasha asked Bayley playfully over Alexa’s blonde head. </span>
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  <span>“Like you aren’t just as excited as me!” Bayley retorted, in a much more pointed tone than she normally addressed Sasha with. </span>
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  <span>“I am, but I don’t know about all the hugging and squeaking, but I’m really looking forward to checking all this out.”</span>
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  <span>“Good!” Alexa responded, the excitement in her voice now palpable. “Come in! We have light snacks now, but we’ll have champagne and dessert later.” She brought her head up close to her two new friends. “No one’s carding you tonight, but you need to have a plan for that starting tomorrow.”</span>
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  <span>She winked at her companions, letting them know what she meant, before leading the two young women into the cavernous friendly confines of Zeta Beta Zeta…</span>
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  <span>Seth Rollins’ night wasn’t going nearly as well. An hour or so after he’d been snatched up by Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and the two other men he’d never met before, Seth still had a black shroud covering his head, shielding any visibility Rollins might’ve been able to employ. </span>
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  <span>All around him, the young man could hear the cautious whispers of other possible captives. One asking in a tone barely above a murmur; “do you think it’s okay to take these masks off?”</span>
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  <span>“No way, man,” came the timid response. “I’ve read about this type of thing.”</span>
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  <span>“You’ve read about folks getting kidnapped in college?” A third voice chimed in, with what Seth was pretty sure was an Australian accent.</span>
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  <span>“I mean, kinda. But not a whole room full,” the first voice blurted, slightly louder. </span>
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  <span>Seth chuckled to himself. Had he just gone with Roman and Dean, and not needed a few moments to himself under the guise of “forgetting his wallet,” he’d probably be elsewhere getting drunk with Dean and Roman instead of where he currently was. Finally, after another few minutes, the ever-impetuous Rollins audibly muttered “fuck this” and stood, pulling his mask off violently as he did so.</span>
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  <span>Seth wasn’t sure what he was expecting upon the removal of the black shroud covering his face. What he wasn’t expecting was to see over a hundred partiers of both genders watching them intently, silent as they gazed at their prey.</span>
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  <span>Finally, Adam Cole cheered, which prompted the other attendees to do the same. </span>
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  <span>“What was the time on that?” He asked a bystander who remained unknown to Seth.</span>
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  <span>“One hour, twenty eight minutes, thirty three seconds,” came the excited reply.</span>
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  <span>“The fuck?” Seth asked, to no one in particular.</span>
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  <span>Instead of an audible, worded reply, there came a giant laugh from the huge audience. From the front of the crowd, Dolph Ziggler and Mike Mizanin stepped forward. Their faces bore huge, smug smiles, and those behind them seemed to each be holding a solo cup of some variety. </span>
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  <span>“Welcome to Lambda Chi, you pledge pieces of shit!” </span>
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  <span>A raucous cheer bellowed from behind Mizanin as he said this. From next to him, Seth could see the punchable face of Adam Cole. </span>
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  <span>Mizanin continued. “My name is Mike Mizanin, but you might also know me as-”</span>
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  <span>“THE MIZ!” The crowd yelled from behind him.</span>
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  <span>“Fuckin’ right,” Mizanin called jovially. “And you, the twenty of you on the floor here, are without doubt the worst fucking pledge class we’ve ever had.”</span>
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  <span>Another ripple of laughter rang out from behind Mizanin.</span>
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  <span>“I am your pledge educator, and for the next nine months, your asses are Lambda Chi property.”</span>
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  <span>Another loud cheer rang out, along with a few scattered statements of agreement. </span>
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  <span>“But we’ll get into all that tomorrow. Tonight, boys, we get to know you, and we get shitfaced. When you wake up in the morning, your lives as you know it are over.”</span>
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  <span>Mizanin turned toward the crowd behind him quickly, before returning his gaze toward his pledge quarry. </span>
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  <span>“Gentlemen, congratulations on making the best decision of your life. Tonight, let us show you why our motto is ‘Lambda Chi until I die.’”</span>
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  <span>A final, lusty roar rang out from the basement. From what Seth could surmise from the myriad conversations around him, it was a yearly Lambda Chi tradition to kidnap pledges, take them to the basement, leave them blindfolded, and stand in silence to see how long it would take the shell shocked initiates to get bored and or desperate enough to take off their shroud and orientate themselves. Seth even heard one girl say it was the “longest one yet.”</span>
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  <span>After another beat, Seth felt a friendly hand on his shoulder, as a second hand reached out for a shake.</span>
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  <span>“What’s up?” </span>
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  <span>Seth met the gaze of the man speaking in front of him. “What’s going on, man?”</span>
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  <span>Seth’s question was met with a snicker. “Weren’t you paying attention?” With the same self-impressed smirk that seemed to have been a standard issue in that particular room, the young man with peculiar facial hair standing before Seth continued talking. “Bobby Fish. Sorry if your ‘kidnapping’ earlier got a little too rough. Kyle thinks he’s a little stronger than he actually is. He gets a little too zealous with those pledge kidnappings.”</span>
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  <span>“Right,” Seth returned, somewhat coldly. </span>
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  <span>“I thought you’d be more excited,” Bobby responded, sizing Rollins up again. “Did we make a mistake bidding you?”</span>
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  <span>“No,” Seth finally sighed, doing his best to put the strife of the day behind him and socialize with his new brothers. “I’m just thinking about the grief I’m gonna get for not pledging KD with my roommates.”</span>
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  <span>Bobby rolled his eyes. “Seriously? By taking this step, you are leaving those guys behind and moving toward a brighter future.”</span>
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  <span>“Yeah, yeah, I read the recruiting materials. I just feel bad, you know? We planned on doing all this fraternity shit together, but Roman just wants to party and Dean’s sure not gonna joining since he’s banging Adam’s ex probably as we speak-”</span>
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  <span>Bobby cut him off with a raised hand, smirking in disbelief. “You’re friends with Dean Ambrose?”</span>
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  <span>Seth nodded, unsure of where this was headed. “Since middle school, yeah.”</span>
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  <span>“Does Adam know about this?” Bobby asked, trying his hardest to contain the excitement in his voice.</span>
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  <span>“I’m uh… not sure…” Seth responded, now sensing that something might be up.</span>
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  <span>“Okay.” Bobby pulled his shirt tail, straightening his appearance as he composed himself. “I’m gonna go talk to Adam. You, uh, enjoy getting to know your pledge brothers. I’ll be back in a little while.”</span>
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  <span>With that, Bobby Fish strode resolutely away from Seth, who was still numb from the odd conversation he’d just had. As he wandered the massive crowd, searching desperately for libation, the thought that he’d made a huge mistake by joining this fraternity rather than Kappa Delta was foremost on his overworked mind…</span>
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  <span>“Where the fuck is he?” Dean Ambrose wondered aloud. This thought did escape his lis, but the music and conversation was so loud at the KD house that not a single person around him was able to hear.</span>
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  <span>“Where do you think Seth is?” Roman called over to his friend, oblivious to the fact that Ambrose had just wondered the same notion out loud.</span>
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  <span>“I have no fucking idea. He must’ve really lost his wallet.”</span>
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  <span>Reigns chuckled at his best friend's joke. “You don’t think he like, backed out of pledging or something, do you?”</span>
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  <span>Ambrose shrugged, taking a long pull of the beer Christian Cage had handed him a few moments before.</span>
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  <span>“I really hope not. Wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without him. It’ll still be fucking awesome, but not as awesome. You know?”</span>
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  <span> Reigns shook his head dismissively. “He’s either part of this or he isn’t. But it’s not stopping me either way.”</span>
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  <span>Dean snickered. As RUN DMC’s “Tricky” blared through the speakers, he scanned across the huge room that served as KD’s primary party dwelling. “Damn,” he thought to himself. “This shit is crazy.”</span>
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  <span>As he thought about going to seek out Alexa, Dean’s cell phone began to blow up with vibrating notifications. Thinking there might be an emergency, Ambrose slid his iphone from his pocket, furrowing his brow and squinting to see the message in the dark dwelling.</span>
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    <span>Dean. It’s Ruby. Where are you guys?</span>
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  <span>Ambrose’s heart skipped a beat. As he thumbed out a reply, the worst case scenarios played themselves out in his mind instantaneously.</span>
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    <span>At KD w Roman. Where r u?</span>
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  <span>Taking a long pull from his beer, Dean anxiously awaited Ruby’s return text. Before he had a chance to panic, however, his adopted sister’s message both alleviated and escalated his anxiety.</span>
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    <span>I’m at Lambda Chi w Seth. I asked him where he was &amp; he said there. I assumed you’d all be here.</span>
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  <span>Dean swore audibly, louder than he had all night. “Roman!” He called his friend, showing him his phone screen and the information it contained.</span>
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  <span>“Seth pledged Lambda Chi?” Roman roared back over the music.</span>
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  <span>“That’s what Ruby said,” Dean barked back, growing irritated at the situation around him. “Fuck!” He screamed to no one in particular.</span>
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  <span>“Are you really surprised? He was super into all that mentoring shit and career placement they were talking about.”</span>
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  <span>Dean shook his head in disgust. “I didn’t think he had it in him.” For a moment, Ambrose contemplated where his friendship with Seth was and if he could tell him to fuck off. Finally, he threw his hands up at his sides nonchalantly, as if to signify he didn’t really care.</span>
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  <span>“I’ll just tell Ruby to get over here ASAP.”</span>
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  <span>Dean thumbed the screen of his phone like it owed him money. The sneer on his face told the tale, but there was no mistaking the anger in his body language.</span>
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    <span>When you’re ready to have fun, get over to KD. Ro’s excited to see you, too.</span>
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  <span>Ambrose snickered to himself as he read Ruby’s response.</span>
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  <em>
    <span>Thx. Will b there soon. This party is lame. Reminds me of the country club stuff mom made us go to. Bunch of guys listening to Hall &amp; Oates and wearing “Reagan-Bush ‘84” t-shirts. Aryan poster kids.</span>
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  <span>Dean shook his head in disbelief. </span>
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    <span>And Rollins joined up. Fucking idiot. Get over here. Much cooler crowd.</span>
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  <span>With no further ado, Dean Ambrose slid his phone back into his pocket, scanning the crowd for people he knew. Seeing a few of the guys he’d be pledging with, the young man temporarily shoved his concerns to the back of his mind, deciding that any conflict with his friend could wait until another day…</span>
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  <span>“This is fucking bullshit,” Alexa exclaimed, more loudly than was needed. Her mentor, Trish Stratus, had dragged her and the rest of ZBZ to the Lambda Chi pledge party, citing their need to “politic” with the best house on campus. </span>
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  <span>Rolling her eyes aggressively, Alexa rejected Trish’s assertion with one of her own; “you know, we could be helping the KD’s rise up the rankings instead of basing our own social standing on the Lambda Chi’s. Besides, isn’t your boyfriend a KD?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish shrugged, though it was over exaggerated and almost playful. “He knows the drill. Nationals is completely up my ass to get this house back to number one, and that means we need the Lambda Chi’s.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shook her head, not at all satisfied with that answer. “How about we buck traditional gender roles and rise to number one through our own merits, rather than depending on a fraternity house?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish shrugged again, ready to move on with the conversation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen, we play the game by the rules. Until ZBZ is back where it needs to be and we get all the way past ‘the incident’ from a couple years ago, we do things the way we’ve always done them. Okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa crossed her arms defiantly and broke eye contact with her best friend. “Fine. But I’m not staying, and I’m not being nice. Those guys are all assholes and I’m tired of pretending otherwise.” The tiny firecracker checked the clock on her phone. “I will give you thirty minutes. Then I’m headed to KD. Don’t try and stop me.” Alexa cast a serious, borderline menacing gaze at her friend, further proving her point as to how serious she really was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Lexi,” Trish responded, taken aback at her rush chair’s strong reaction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish and Alexa led a large group of ZBZ’s through the massive, ornate front door of the Lambda Chi house. From her perch next to Seth Rollins, Ruby Riott took in the raucous scense with an air of detached amusement. She’d chosen her side as soon as she’d heard which of her longtime friends had chosen what fraternity. She supposed she fancied herself team KD, but Seth had been the first of the three to reach out about that night’s plans, so she made what felt like an obligatory appearance at Lambda Chi.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t really my scene,” Ruby mused to Seth, who’d begun work on a fresh beer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not convinced it’s really anyone’s scene,” Seth retorted, taking a long, satisfying pull of his beverage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby gave her companion her best “side eye.” Then why in the fuck did you pledge here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seth shrugged, emptying his cup in one additional long hit. “I dunno, really. I wasn’t going to. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I told Dean and Roman I needed a minute. It wasn’t until that minute that I realized that for all the things wrong with the guys in this house, at least they have a plan. All the KD guys just walk around shitfaced all the time. I don’t need a fraternity to do that. I can do that hanging out in front of a liquor store. These guys have alumni networks and peer tutoring and shit. Things that’ll get me where I want to be after college.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now Ruby felt bad for giving Seth shit about his choice in Greek affiliation. “Damn, dude, I didn’t think you thought like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rollins shrugged and shook his head, before accepting another fresh cup of beer from one of the actives he hadn’t met yet. Before the active got completely away, Seth grabbed the older student by the sleeve. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“One for my lady friend here, too,” Seth declared, over the pulsating music. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Lambda Chi brother tried to form a witty response, but his level of intoxication allowed only for a nod and a verbal utterance that sounded nothing like an actual english word. Reaching behind himself, the active pulled a hose from what appeared to be a backpack pony keg and dispensed a second plastic cup full of light lager.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seth took the libation from his inebriated new fraternity brother, before wondering if he should already know the man’s name. Instead, he simply turned back to Ruby and handed her the cup as though he’d poured it himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, dude,” Ruby called. “If I get roofied, it’s your fault.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seth chuckled, intending to fire back with his own comment, but his attention was diverted to the main hall, where it appeared that Alexa Bliss was in a confrontation with a Lambda Chi Seth had been conversing with earlier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think Alexa is gonna slap the shit out of Adam,” Seth remarked, straining to be heard over the sounds of “Cruise” by FLORIDA/GEORGIA LINE.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna slap the shit out of the DJ for playing this cringy horseshit,” Ruby fired back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a good idea,” Seth replied, before the entire house erupted in one large “OOOH” as Alexa’s tiny hand made contact with Adam Cole’s face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was fucking legit!” Ruby cried out, impressed with the spunk Dean’s love interest was showing. Ruby had the blonde cheerleader pegged as more of a “girly girl,” but it was now clear that there was a fire to the miniscule young woman that Ruby had underestimated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit!” Rollins exclaimed at almost the exact same time. The pair watched in rapt amazement as Alexa Bliss strode out of the party room like she owned the place, with Charlotte Flair and AJ Lee following closely behind. After another moment of awkward silence, Ruby sighed heavily before turning back toward Seth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay dude, I’m gone. Looks like the party’s going to KD. Text me when you get out of here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s cool,” Rollins fired back. “I’m gonna see if I can catch up with that Mandy Rose chick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do that,” Ruby mused, her eyebrows raised with skepticism. With that, the tattooed beauty descended the balcony stairs and followed the ever-growing crowd leaving the Lambda Chi party and walking the few hundred feet to KD.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time Ruby reached KD, there was almost no square footage inside the house for the young woman to occupy. “Close Your Eyes (and count to fuck)” by RUN THE JEWELS w ZACK DE LA ROCHA was blaring through huge speakers as young women danced and shrieked in jovial ecstasy as the brothers of Kappa Delta raised solo cups and revelled in the newest future additions to their chapter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ruby!” Dean called from a few feet away, waving her toward himself and his group of friends. His lips continued moving, but Ruby had no chance of making out what he was saying, until she realized that he was drunkenly half-rapping along with Killer Mike as he rhymed about taking over jails and giving CO’s hell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck the police,” Dean slurred as Ruby finally made her way to his huddle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ruby!” Alexa Bliss cried with inebriated joy, throwing her arms around the tattooed neck of Dean’s adopted sister. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Ruby responded, a bit of hesitation present in her voice. Everyone around the jet-black haired exotic had been drinking for several hours, and Ruby wasn’t sure how she’d be received, especially with Dean’s love interest. When they’d been at dinner the previous evening, Alexa had seemed somewhat cold toward Ruby, and she assumed it was because of her shared history with Dean. Now, however, Alexa almost seemed to be hanging onto Ruby, just as she’d been draped on Dean Ambrose as Ruby approached them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re soooo glad you came to hang out with us,” Alexa slurred, bright grin across her still radiant face. “Dean and I were just dancing, and he was gonna go get me another ‘jungle juice.’”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We might’ve had just about enough jungle juice for one evening,” Dean responded, rolling his eyes. Before Alexa could respond, Ruby cut into their conversation, hoping paying Alexa a compliment would further break the tension between them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was really epic how you slapped Adam Cole’s soul from his body like that,” Riott continued, before taking a long pull from her own plastic receptacle of red “jungle juice.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I told him I wasn’t gonna fucking take it anymore, and motherfucker tried to test me.” She looked at Ruby, before darting her eyes back to Dean, then to Ruby again. “And I will not be tested. Believe this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean and Ruby shared an amused glance before breaking into laughter. The booming, gravelly baritone of Roman Reigns barraged all their senses, the big Samoan making his presence felt the only way he knew how.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ruby!” Roman yelled into the night. “Good to see you, sis!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby threw her arms around Roman’s thick neck. “You too, bud. I missed you guys.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman lifted Ruby from the floor with his embrace, causing the girl’s well-worn canvas shoes to dangle as her feet kicked gently with delight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And who is this lovely young woman?” Ruby asked her adopted brother, who gave a cocky snicker in response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is… who are you again?” Roman turned toward the young woman under his arm, who smacked him playfully on the chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m Dana,” the buxom blonde replied, extending a hand toward Ruby. She turned back toward Roman. “This is your sister?” She gave Ruby a once over, making sure to take in every inch of the sultry tattooed woman. “She’s fucking hot.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby gave Dana a crooked, intrigued smile. “Thanks. I think.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Dana could fire a witty reply, or anyone else in their small huddle could initiate a fresh line of conversation, a new energy filled the large party space as Dolph Ziggler led a large contingent of Lambda Chi’s into the Kappa Delta house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s up, losers?” Ziggler called out to no one in particular. His sneer was as delightfully arrogant as ever, though he was clearly more intoxicated than when Ruby had observed him earlier at the Lambda Chi house. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From all corners of the house, Kappa Delta brothers gathered opposite the invading horde of polo shirt wearing young Republicans from Lambda Chi.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke Gallows spoke first. As a Kappa Delta, and maybe the largest man in the room, his words and presence carried a lot of weight, and all eyes found their way to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You ladies must be lost. The Girl Scouts meet two streets up, one block over. Off of Garea Street. Big Episcopalian Church. Can’t miss it. Come back during cookie season, though, I love me some Thin Mints.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A large, somewhat ominous chuckle rippled from the Kappa Delta side of the room. Dean had never actually heard laughter sound threatening in that particular way, and it began to dawn on Ambrose that there was no way this encounter would be ending in anything other than violence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very funny, Luke, but we actually thought you guys would want to meet our new pledge class,” Ziggler returned smugly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The fuck would we want that for?” Scott Dawson retorted, sidling next to Gallows. Dawson was not the most physically intimidating of the Kappa Delta’s, but no active member loved a good fisticuff as much as he did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I dunno, call it inter-house bonding.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, Ziggler motioned behind him, as a line of fifteen or so young men separated themselves from the rest of the Lambda Chi group. Dean could make out most of their faces clearly, but there was one pledge that was noticeably trying to hide their face. One by one, Dolph introduced the freshmen selected to be part of their pledge class. Dean was zoned out for most of it, instead honing his situational awareness for the fight he was almost certain was looming. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa, sensing what was happening, gently tapped Dean on his leg, bringing him back to the present. Rolling his eyes and snickering quietly, Dean paid attention to Dolph’s voice as his introductions grew closer to the mystery pledge.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...and this is Austin Theory, next to him is Buddy Murphy, and last but certainly not least-” the Lambda Chi president fixed his eyes on the now bewildered Ambrose as he wrapped his speech up. “And listen to this one, because I think you’re really gonna enjoy this, ladies and gentlemen, meet Seth Rollins.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean’s stomach fell into his small intestines. Ruby had deduced correctly some time before that Seth Rollins had in fact turned his bid in to Lambda Chi, but it still hurt Ambrose to hear the words spoken aloud. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuckin’ traitor,” Dean heard his friend Roman mutter under his breath next to him. Instead of replying verbally, Dean just sneered and drilled an imaginary hole in Seth’s head with his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not the only reason we’re here,” Ziggler continued, before turning to his right. “Adam, you wanted to say something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Adam Cole nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I’ve been wronged by a member of Kappa Delta, and I’m here to pursue a resolution under the ‘disputes between houses’ rule.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The fuck is that?” Dean asked, standing on his tiptoes to make sure Drew McIntyre heard him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s basically like a duel, only we aren’t allowed tah use pistols anymore,” McIntyre returned in his thick Scottish accent. “Apparently it looks bad fer the school if a buncha students get shot over some bullshit. So now we use fists. But it’s like a big honor thing. You leave school grounds and fight until someone yields.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded and contemplated this. Before he could, however, he heard the voice of Christian Cage ring out across the dance floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dean isn’t a member yet. He’s a pledge. All that old ‘honor’ shit won’t apply to him until the end of the semester.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cole scoffed in mock surprise. “I’m shocked. A KD would rather drink than fight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Upon hearing that, Ambrose began shoving his way through the oppressively thick crowd, wanting his voice to be heard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Christian, I don’t mind doing whatever this thing is he’s talking about,” Dean gravelled quietly into Cage’s ear, hoping not to set off a riot too early.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care if you fight him or not. I just don’t need this parliamentary procedure shit from the 1850’s when these guys used muskets fucking up my buzz, you know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean pondered this a moment. “So you don’t care if I punch him in the face, you just don’t want to do this ‘official challenge’ shit?” Dean asked, his brain careening toward the natural conclusion of this scenario.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cage shrugged and shook his head before taking a giant pull straight from the fifth of Jack Daniels he was clutching loosely. “Not a bit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean pretended to think again, before shrugging himself and taking a deep exhale. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In one swift motion, Ambrose turned a one eighty from his current position, raising his fist in one motion before throwing the mother of all right hands at Adam Cole’s jaw. Before the Lambda Chi agitator could do a thing to protect himself, Ambrose’s closed fist connected with bone-shattering force, causing Cole to fall back as though he’d been hit with a shotgun blast. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone in the room stood for a moment in stunned silence. From that day forward, no one could ever determine who moved next, but Karl Anderson would always know in the back of his mind that it was his sucker punch to longtime rival Mike Mizanin’s right eye that really set off the melee. The next few minutes were pure pandemonium. Young men from both fraternities instantly lunged into the fray, with many of them all too eager to seek out members of the opposite Fraternity they’d harbored grudges against for some time. Luke Gallows nearly decapitated John Morrison with a huge right hand, while Jake Hager of Lambda Chi finally evened the score from the previous spring’s brawl by taking down Scott Dawson and raining blows on the prone young man. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean himself didn’t have long to relish his devastating blow to Adam Cole’s protruding chin. Almost immediately he was sat upon by Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong. Dean threw a determined forearm to O’Reilly’s chin, tumbling the smallest of the quartet onto the wooden floor in a heap. Bobby and Roderick began raining fists from several angles, catching Dean in his ribs and stomach. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oooooof,” came the guttural sound of the air leaving Dean’s lungs as the ill-intentioned blows found their soft targets. Staggering to his feet, Adam Cole threw punches of his own, though he remained wobbly and not entirely in command of his faculties. Before the Lambda Chi’s could do too much damage to their target, however, Christian Cage and Dash Wilder came charging to Ambrose’s aide, peeling off assailants and landing blows of their own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman Reigns had only one target on his mind. Shoving his way through the sea of humanity like Batman looking for Bane at the end of </span>
  <b>The Dark Knight Rises, </b>
  <span>Reigns roughly cast aside pairs and small groups of combatants locked in struggle before he came across his quarry, his eyes burning with anger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seth!” Roman called out, loudly enough for the new Lambda Chi pledge to turn around in surprise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wha-?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rollins didn’t have the chance to process what was happening before Roman’s meaty fist caught him flush on the nose, just as Ambrose’s had caught Cole. Almost foaming at the mouth with rage at what he saw as a betrayal of his friendship, Reigns mounted the downed Rollins MMA style and threw stiff punches with both hands as Rollins simply tried to cover his face to keep from being damaged. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reigns had landed five or six good shots before the dance music came to a screeching halt and a voice yelled over the noise of colliding bodies and the sounds of drunken combat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys! It’s Laurinaitis and Campus Security! Run!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As suddenly as the fight began, the participants (and most of the onlookers) began flooding from every open and unlocked entrance, hoping desperately to avoid the substantial trouble one could incur if caught fistfighting on campus. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Landing one more left hook to a bleeding Adam Cole, Dean Ambrose followed the cue shouted from upstairs and disengaged Cole, shoved him to the floor and attempted an escape through the kitchen. To his surprise, he actually saw grass and the night sky before being roughly tackled to the ground by a blue-clad body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not tonight, son. Don’t move.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a disgusted groan and an eye roll, Dean Ambrose’s body seized as he felt steel bracelets encircle both of his wrists.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck,” he thought to himself. This was a problem. With this kind of trouble, Dean could lose his football scholarship before school even started. Glancing frantically all around him, Dean met eyes with Roman Reigns, Christian Cage, Dash Wilder, Tucker Knight, and several other Kappa Delta’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Some party,” he shouted over the commotion of campus security corralling inebriated and rowdy partygoers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Christian Cage nodded. “Yep. Whatever they say to you, don’t say shit. We’ll take care of you. Just keep shut. Okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded grimly. He really didn’t have a choice. All at once, he was pulled to his feet roughly by what felt like a massive pair of hands, and his stomach sank as he observed for the first time a man in his fifties, sandy blonde hair, with a smug grin on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My name is John Laurinaitis. I’m the Dean of Student Services, and you’re all in big, big trouble…”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>What'd you think? Are Seth, Roman, and Dean split for good?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter Five: Crushed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's time for ZBZ's "Crush Party." But will anyone's heart get broken?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 5</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So, I have a small confession to make. I briefly considered ending this story. Once I got the “fuck ThatWrestlingFanWrites” out of my system, I lost my vision for college AU stories. Then I had an idea about integrating some new characters and personalities into my existing universe. This will continue to be a Dean/Alexa story, but I’ll be introducing a handful of new personalities, as well as expanding roles for some background characters. The first, Montez Ford, will make his debut in this chapter. Thanks for your continued support.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shit.” That was Ruby Riott’s first thought as she watched her two adopted brothers and their best friend get loaded into police cars. Still, even as she feared for their short term well being, she couldn’t suppress a slight snicker as she listened to Dean Ambrose rant and rave about his current situation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...and Fuck you too, you shitass rent a cop! You part time loser! Take these cuffs off me and let’s find out!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A cheer rose up from the gathered observers, still in disbelief that there’d already been such a wide-spreading brawl before classes had even started. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby slowly but determinedly made her way to the front of the large mass of people encircling the University Police cars, hoping against hope that Dean would go no further than strong words against the officers apprehending him. Fortunately, he seemed content to verbally berate his captors.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fucking dick! You’re probably an accountant or some shit and you come do this in the hopes that one of these college chicks will take even a second glance at you, you fat fucking bum! Fuck you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby let out a belabored snicker as she rubbed her palm against her brow in frustration. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Man, he really hates cops,” came a feminine voice from behind her. Turning her head slightly, she quickly deduced that the voice belonged to the tiny blonde Dean had spent almost all his time with since Thursday night. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby chuckled again, thinking about all the encounters they’d had with law enforcement back home. “You have no idea,” she returned, feeling Alexa loosely link her arm in the crook of Ruby’s elbow. That gesture, while seemingly inconsequential to so many women, made Ruby’s hair stand on end. From her rough childhood into her adolescence, Ruby had never really had any success making female friends, and so the idea that Dean’s love interest was showing an interest in being her friend was somewhat jarring, if completely welcome. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa laughed, amused by the sight of Dean struggling so mightily against campus security. “He does know those guys are full time officers, right? Like, they aren’t rent-a-cops. There’s a full time University Police department.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Dean fucking hates cops. It’s a thing from when we were in a foster home together. One of our foster dads was a cop, and he used to come home drunk and smack everyone around. He never got in trouble because his cop buddies covered for him, so one day Dean waited until he passed out in his favorite chair and took a chain with a lock on the end to him. He did a week in juvie and we all got removed from that home.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa’s eyebrows raised, now fully intrigued by the story. “Dean didn’t tell me he went to juvie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby flopped her arms at her side yet again. “He wasn’t there long. After that the state took an interest in the quality of houses they were sending their foster kids to. No more idiots just collecting the checks and then treating kids like shit. So it did do some good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa nodded, contemplating this new information as she noticed Bayley and Sasha sidling up to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ladies,” Alexa lilted lightheartedly. “Enjoy the party?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha shook her head in disbelief. “Yeah, until the last thirty minutes of </span>
  <b>The Outsiders </b>
  <span>broke out. Seriously, what the fuck was that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shrugged again. “It’s really not that big a deal. Every year some idiots start scrapping during the first couple weeks. Two years ago it was us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bayley scoffed incredulously. “The ZBZ’s got in a fistfight?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa nodded, as though it was the most natural thing in the world that her sorority had scrapped with a rival a couple years previous. “Yeah. The Gamma Psi’s wanted to come to our ‘welcome back’ mixer and act like their shit didn’t stink. Trish wasn’t having it, and neither was our old president. Katie Lea put a stop to that shit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other girls involved in the conversation all laughed as Alexa slightly slurred her speech. Everyone involved in that particular conversation was well inebriated, and there was really no chance that any of them would remember all of this dialogue tomorrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what now?” Ruby asked, dying to move along from this current situation. “Should we go get the boys out of campus jail?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shook her head in the negative. “They won’t be open until Eight am. All those idiots are spending the night there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby bit her lip and snickered, not wanting to make light of their current situation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Serves them right.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All the young women nodded, though deep down they all felt some level of sympathy for their friends. No one really thought the boys deserved the treatment they were getting (except maybe the borderline insane Ambrose), and it made Bayley sad that her new friends were already in trouble.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Breakfast?” Alexa asked, though her question wasn’t directed at anyone in particular. “I’m buying and I’m super hungry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby spoke up first. “Hell yes. I could go for some pancakes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha and Bayley voiced their agreements vociferously, both having over-imbibed and eager for nourishment. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is anyone okay to drive?” Alexa asked the group. One by one, every young woman in the huddle admitted to being too intoxicated to drive. “Fine,” she continued. “I’m getting a Lyft XL. Everyone have mace or something? Those drivers are fucking weird.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby, Sasha, and Bayley all suppressed laughs of their own as they listened to Alexa continue to bark out orders. On nights like this, any sane person would find it comforting to have such fierce, loyal company with them, even if they didn’t know their companions that well. As the quartet boarded the black suv charged with ferrying them safely to their destination, a wave of contentment seemed to wash over all of them, along with the realization that the women in this particular vehicle might end up being the best friends they’d ever had…</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next two weeks seemed to fly by for everyone involved. The morning after the KD pledge party, everyone involved in the skirmish was released from the SU police station with a stern warning and a promise that any further nonsense would be met with swift and decisive action. Dean wasn’t sure which football coach had intervened on their behalf, but he was almost certain one had. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stamford U also played and won their first football game. Deploying a cutting edge 4-2-5 defense that matched up well with the spread offenses they would constantly face, and a power running attack on offense, the Titans steamrolled the University of Connecticut 41-14 and captured some regional news coverage in the process. Roman, by far the most heavily recruited of the trio, had become the starter at one of the defensive tackle spots, and Dean found himself in the rotation at linebacker and a standout on special teams.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seth Rollins wasn’t enjoying the same level of success as his two friends. One of the most fundamental truths of sports is that in football, size will always be more scarce than speed, which left Rollins as the odd man out. All the positions he could play were occupied by faster, more experienced players, and as a result Seth was “redshirted,” a college sports term meaning he wasn’t expected to play that season and as a result would not lose a year of eligibility so long as he didn’t appear in any games.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pledging also took up a large part of the three young men’s time. Whenever they weren’t practicing, working out, attending class or studying, any of the three could be found at their respective fraternity house. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean, in particular, was really starting to feel like he was learning how to be a successful college student. His secret weapon was a neurological quirk that allowed the young man to retain almost everything he read, otherwise known as an eidetic memory. Roman, being a highly-rated prospect out of high school, received every advantage possible so as to insure his scholastic success, including a private tutor for every class he was enrolled in and group study sessions with the teachers assistants that often taught the material in the professor’s stead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now, the second Wednesday of the school year brought with it one of Stamford University’s favorite sorority traditions; the sending of “crush baskets.” All the Hellenic houses prepared gift baskets for any of the fraternity boys they might have a “crush” on, and then the next night the sorority houses would all have “crush parties;” lighthearted and jovial affairs where the sorority sister who sent the basket would receive a visit from her “crush,” which would hopefully lead to a romantic entanglement of some kind. There were many outdated Greek rituals designed to pair young men and women of similar age and socioeconomic statuses dating back to the 1800’s that Alexa and the ZBZ’s thought were stupid and antiquated, but the crush baskets were still seen as a fun and harmless exercise in matchmaking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That exercise was currently taking place all up and down Greek row. Small groups of young women cavorting to each fraternity house in turn, leaving baskets from their respective chapters on the front doorstep of each massive fraternity house, along with a bright verbal announcement that that particular house had arrived and delivered their payload. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean Ambrose was only expecting one basket. Alexa had told him the day after their initial encounter that she’d be sending him a special package, indicating her desire to begin their official relationship. She’d reminded him the following weekend by brushing her hand against his privates and reiterating that “boys with special packages get special packages” before giggling naughtily and kissing a stunned Ambrose full on the lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean wasn’t expecting anything to the degree that he got, however. Alexa, wanting to make sure the linebacker knew how infatuated she was with him, pulled out all the stops when it came to her gift bundle, sending Ambrose a new iPad (Dean’s current tablet had a cracked screen and was impractical for studying), an iTunes gift card, a provocative picture she’d taken wearing her SU cheerleading uniform in a manner Dean was pretty sure wasn't regulation, and several custom handwritten coupons she’d made offering services to him for free. Of the ones Dean could talk about publicly, a free massage while studying was maybe his favorite. There were also at least a half dozen that promised a variety of sex acts that Dean was excited to think about but not at all willing to show his pledge brothers. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>For Roman, the theme of Crush Basket Day was quantity over quality. No less than six baskets from three different Sorority houses awaited the massive Samoan as he reported to Kappa Delta to do his pledge duties. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck, man?” He asked Drew McIntyre, who was overseeing the distribution of the aforementioned gifts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aye, looks like ya’ got the most outta all the pledges.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman couldn’t help the self-satisfied smirk that crossed his face. McIntyre, resisting the urge to smack the pledge across his face, merely snickered and shook his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That might sound like a good thing, but ya can only go to one crush party. Tha’ means five girls are gonna hate ya the rest of yer time here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think?” Roman inquired wryly, trying not to sound concerned by this assertion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>McIntyre nodded. “Aye. Jus’ remember that if yah say ‘yes’ to one, yer sayin’ ‘no’ to five others. So choose wisely, Roman.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reigns shook his head, now overwhelmed with anxiety at having a choice like this laid in front of him. One by one, the handsome brute examined the baskets and contents therein. Though none were signed, there were some telltale signs that helped Roman deduce who had sent him what. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The contents of the first two baskets led him to believe they were sent by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. That was something of a problem, because Roman still wasn’t sure which one of them he’d actually hooked up with after the first party of the year. Choosing one of those would almost assuredly hurt the other’s feelings, and Roman didn’t have strong enough feelings for either one to run afoul of the other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was also pretty sure one was from the girl he’d met the night his fraternity had squared off with Lambda Chi. Dana Brooke, a sophomore softball player and ZBZ, had sent him a basket that was more or less just snacks and beer. Not that Roman minded. He couldn’t recall what exactly he’d told Dana in his inebriated state that fateful night, but the tattooed </span>
  <em>
    <span>sole </span>
  </em>
  <span>assumed it must’ve been quality intel. Pulling one beer from the six pack of Coors Light, Roman noted that the can was still cold, meaning that Dana had had the foresight to not leave his treats out in the hot sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s definitely in the lead,” Reigns mused to himself. And it wasn’t just because of the beer. He’d had a really good time with the buxom blonde, and had run into her a couple of times since that fateful evening. She’d been courteous, but not overly friendly, and Roman wondered if she’d been playing “hard to get.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two of them were a complete mystery. All Roman knew is that one was a Gamma Psi and one was a Tri Delt, or Delta Delta Delta. Reigns didn’t even remember meeting any girls from either house, but it was entirely possible that either he was so drunk when meeting them that he was completely incoherent, or that these girls had just seen him playing football and developed affections for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the final basket that gave Reigns the most pause. It was pink and baby blue with purple and yellow hearts and smiley faces all over. Right next to the large ZBZ insignia was Roman’s name in loopy, cheerful cursive writing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck me,” Roman muttered to himself as he finished off the beer from the other basket. Pulling another from the six pack, Reigns began weighing his options. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aye, it looks like a third grader made this one,” McIntyre opined as he snagged a beer from Roman’s now dwindling supply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, man,” Reigns spat, protesting the theft of one of his “Silver Bullets.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck off, Ro,” Drew continued. “Ya got three more after this one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman snickered and nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So wha’s the problem then?” McIntyre questioned, not understanding Reign’s dilemma. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is from Bayley,” Roman responded ruefully. “She’s a good friend. She’s the RA on our dorm hall and she’s wonderful. I just don’t have those feelings for her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>McIntyre shook his head slowly. “Then this is a fuckin’ problem,” he groaned, taking a long pull of Coors Light before making a face. “This American beer is shite,” the tall Scotsman lamented. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It really is,” Roman grinned, before taking another long drink of the Rocky Mountain Refresher. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here’s the thing, Ro,” McIntyre continued. “Yer gonna hafta decide at some point what’s more important. Yer friendship with this girl, in which case ya can’t hurt her feelin’s, or yer own desire tah ge’ it on with hot sorority chicks. Either way, someone’s gettin’ hurt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman pondered this a moment. There was still one move he could make that could possibly defuse this entire thing. Sliding his phone out of his back pocket, Roman began furiously pounding at the screen with his massive thumbs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasha, it’s Roman. I need to talk to you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who yah textin’?” Drew asked, finishing his beer. Before Roman could answer, Drew reached onto a shelf near where the baskets were housed and pulled a bottle of cheap Scotch whiskey and two dusty glasses down. Pouring two generous shots, McIntyre handed one to Roman before pouring an even more ample one for himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Slainte mhath,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>McIntyre muttered, evoking the traditional Scottish toast he’d learned as a boy, before clinking his glass with Reigns, who simply uttered a phrase in native Samoan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hamoa,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” the huge man almost whispered in return, downing the clear liquid as his phone went off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Checking the screen, it made Roman’s heart beat a bit faster to see that Sasha Banks was returning his salutation so quickly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hey Roman. If it’s about your crush basket, I saw and I tried to talk Bay out of sending it. She was insistent. Are you sure you can’t just marry her and have babies with her?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman snickered, thumbing out a response. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I wish it was that easy. I should have feelings for her. She’s pretty, sweet, loving, kind, and funny. I should dig everything about her. I just don’t. I think I’m broken somehow.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All the way across campus, Sasha Banks grinned when she read Roman’s earnest text. It was easily the most honest thing she’d heard from the caramel-skinned heartthrob since the day she’d made his acquaintance. Biting her tongue and shaking her head slightly, Banks began typing out her volley.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, if you wanna meet me at the coffee kiosk in the quad in about an hour, I’ll be happy to brainstorm this with you. I will not let my best friend get her heartbroken, but I also acknowledge that she brought this on herself. I’ve watched you interact with her and you haven’t led her on or taken advantage of her. She’s just made her mind up that you’re the one for her.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now it was Roman’s turn to shake his head, though his grin wasn’t nearly as bright as Sasha’s. Drew McIntyre, noticing the look on Reigns’ face, decided to weigh in further on the situation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who ya textin’?” McIntyre implored again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman rolled his eyes. “The roommate of the girl who sent me this ‘Adventure Time’ basket. Trying to figure out how to let her know I don’t like her the way she likes me without hurting her feelings.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drew shook his head. “No’ possible.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman shrugged. “We’ll see. I’m meeting her roommate for coffee in an hour, so maybe there’s a way to get out of this without feeling like a total dick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drew shook his head vehemently. “Nope. No matter wha’ happens from this point, someone’s gonna get their feelin’s hurt. But, yah might no’ lose a friend permanently if yah handle it the right way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The intense Freshman nodded somberly. “That’s the plan. I can only do what I can do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aye. Good luck. An’ be back tonight after practice. Pledge bonding activity.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Pledge bonding” usually meant that the actives were going to get a big laugh at the expense of their large pledge class. Roman did take a moment to remind himself how lucky he was that he and a select few others had football practice, and therefore had an abbreviated amount of time to take the lighthearted abuse from Kappa Delta. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aight, man. See ya,” Roman rumbled aloud, in contrast to the myriad of thoughts he was balancing below the surface. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bounding out the front door, Roman made a mental note to hit the student bookstore before his meetup with Sasha to grab exam blue books and #2 pencils for Dean and himself. As he strolled the sidewalk that ran along “fraternity row,” Roman did his best to steel his nerves and prepare for the tough conversation he was going to have to have with Sasha…</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The noises coming from the whirlpool closet in the women’s athletic training center almost made it sound like two girls were fighting each other to the death. In fact, had they been caught, both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair were still wearing enough clothing, even as they ravaged each other’s shapely bodies, that “mutual combat” could’ve been a viable excuse as to why they were rolling on the floor in a locked room that wasn’t either of their residence halls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmmmmmmmmmmmh, Becky,” Charlotte whispered into Becky’s ear huskily as the lithe redheaded soccer star planted the latest in a seemingly endless stream of rough kisses on Charlotte’s toned neck and striking jawline. “Becky, stop for a second, I need to catch my breath.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No time, lass,” came the hasty reply as Becky’s hand continued it’s nonstop ministrations under Charlotte’s hopelessly overworked sports bra. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Becky, for real,” Charlotte insisted as she took her lover’s face between her hands. “We don’t have to stop, I’m just cramping from being scrunched up against the wall like this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Becky finally took a moment to survey her surroundings. When she’d gotten a text from Charlotte noting that there were no therapeutic whirlpool sessions scheduled until that evening, and that it would be a real shame if the two of them both needed to grab something from the athletic first aid kits housed in the small enclave behind one of two dozen plain wooden doors in a nondescript hall running alongside the basketball team’s practice gym. The duo were further pleased to find out that the thick concrete walls were very nearly soundproof. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay lass,” she finally acquiesced. Reluctantly, slowly, but as affectionately as she’d begun this encounter, Becky withdrew her hands from the erogenous zones of Charlotte’s insanely alluring form. “Wha’s on yer mind?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Charlotte inhaled deeply, trying to gather her thoughts as they swirled in a dopamine haze from the intense euphoria she’d been escorted into by Becky. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just wanted you to know, like, I’m thinking a lot about what you said about us not having to hide our relationship anymore.” The statuesque volleyball star exhaled forcefully, symbolically jettisoning all the doubts and fears she’d accumulated while going through the possible consequences of going public with Becky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And?” Becky asked, hoping to lead Charlotte through the conversation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not ready to like, come out to my family or the sorority, because I’m still not sure I’m gay. I may just be in love with you. But if you want to like, go on a real date or something, I’m game. We gotta go at least twenty miles away, because I don’t need these gossipy bitches in my business, but there’s no reason we can’t go to a movie in Hartford and get all handsy and do all the shit I’d do if you were a guy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Becky scoffed amiably. “Oh really? And wha’ would yah do to me if I was a guy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Charlotte bit her lip coyly and smiled, leaning forward until her lips were just barely touching Becky’s. “You’ll just have to find out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Becky rolled her eyes and shook her head, causing her fiery orange hair to swing wildly around her shoulders. “Yer too much, Char. Oh, I got ya somethin’.” As she said that, the Irish looker reached toward the giant sports bag she’d been toting all day, before pulling out a basket that was very similar to the ones the sorority girls across campus had been delivering to fraternity houses all day. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Charlotte took one glimpse of the gift from Becky and cackled loudly at receiving a “crush basket” from her secret girlfriend. As fun as most of the activities were in her sorority, there was no precedent for a same-sex crush in their antiquated traditions. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t have,” Charlotte called out in a singsong voice. In truth, it made her unbelievably happy that Becky was thinking about her enough to put together gifts for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, bu’ I couldn’t help myself,” Lynch returned lovingly, her smile lighting up the entire room. Charlotte’s smile grew brighter and toothier as she slowly combed through the contents of her new favorite gift. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw, there’s lotion, and some face scrub, and a Starbucks gift card.” Charlotte chuckled to herself. “And here I thought a lesbian ‘crush basket’ would have like, a strap on and nipple clamps or some shit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Becky let out a large cackle. “I’ve been sleepin’ with girls since I was fifteen an’  I’ve never used any o’ them.” She paused, then grinned wickedly as an idea came to her. “Although, if ya wanna get some toys, I’m no’ opposed to tha’.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now it was Charlotte’s turn to let her mind take a turn for the deliciously perverse. Bringing her face back to just millimeters from Becky, the golden amazon took a tantalizing tone in her voice as she breathily whispered to Becky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That can be our ‘next step,’ then, huh? We can get some fun shit from the porno shop, or online, go out of town for the weekend, have our real ‘date,’ and then do nasty, wonderful things to each other for two days.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Becky unleashed her own wicked grin. “Tha’ sounds magical. Like wha’ every girl dreams of. Shitty hotel room, hours of lesbian sex, maybe some room service if there’s any.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Charlotte raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You know who my dad is, right? I have a ‘for emergencies only’ credit card that I used last year to buy the whole sorority tacos. We will be getting a suite at the Hilton for our lesbionics. Is that clear?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Becky’s smile turned sly. “Crystal, mah dear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good,” Charlotte returned with a satisfied smile. Biting her lip and squinting playfully at her scarlet haired lover, the Lady Flair made a final request. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now that that’s settled, I’m gonna need you to fuck me again before volleyball practice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Instead of answering audibly, Becky simply thrust her face towards Charlotte, attacking her with the lust and determination befitting the situation. Charlotte, caught completely by surprise, squealed with shocked delight into Becky’s aggressive mouth as their tongues danced for the hundredth time that day…</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The butterflies bouncing around in Roman Reign’s stomach was not an occupation he was used to. In fact, the giant Samoan couldn’t remember the last time he’d been at all nervous when it came to conversing with females. This, however, wasn’t the normal interaction he was used to. Instead, he was doing his best to figure out how not to hurt the feelings of a dear friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To top off the already numerous problems he was currently digesting, Roman didn’t even really like coffee. He’d agreed to meet Sasha at the coffee kiosk before fully thinking it through, and now he found himself staring at a menu full of words he didn’t understand, like “macchiato” and “venti.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After another minute or two of perplexed loitering, Roman felt a dainty hand slip around his arm, while a shock of blue from Sasha’s hair invaded his peripheral. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Roman,” she began brightly, resting her head against his shoulder the way a friend would. “Thanks for meeting me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman nodded and grunted something that sounded like a return greeting, still befuddled by the language that he recognized as English yet had no idea what those particular combinations of words meant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you normally get?” Sasha continued, her cheery tone soothing the annoyance in Reigns.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman shrugged. “I don’t drink coffee.” Glancing down at Sasha, he could see that she was mildly uncomfortable with his gruff demeanor that morning. Cracking a sly smile, Roman caught Sasha’s gaze. “It stunts your growth.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The caramel beauty scoffed in mock incredulity. “Is that what happened to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman shrugged. “I dunno. I never had coffee before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This time the incredulous look on Sasha’s face was genuine. “Never? Like, a single time?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman shook his head. “Nah. My dad drank four or five cups a day, and then when I was ten he decided that coffee was addictive and threw it all out. He stuck to beer after that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Well, they have green tea and Jones soda.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The hell is a Jones soda?” Roman inquired, a mix of disgust and confusion in his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha shrugged. “It’s like a regular soda but sugar-free and more expensive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman snickered. “I’ll take an iced green tea. Here, I’ll get us seats,” he rumbled as he handed Sasha a wad of bills. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few minutes later, Sasha found Reigns at a small circular table almost as far away from the kiosk as he could be. Roman was hastily thumbing through apps on his phone, trying to no avail to distract himself from the tough conversation he knew was coming. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, Bayley,” Sasha asserted, unwilling to let Roman skirt the issue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman groaned softly and grumbled before taking a sip of his iced green tea. “Not bad,” he admitted to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” he answered aloud, “I’m really trying to figure out a way to not devastate her. She’s a good friend and a sweet person. Like I texted earlier, I should be attracted to her. I’m just not. But I also like hanging out with her and don’t want to lose that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha nodded. “So, I’ve been thinking about this since we texted earlier, and the only possible solution I can think of is if you talk to her alone. Like, before the actual party so she’s not sad in front of everyone. I’ll bring her to the house at what, eight? The party doesn’t start until nine. That’ll give you an hour to do what you need to do.” Sasha slid her hand over Roman’s massive paw, a movement that was so subtle it was subconscious for both parties involved. “And, for what it’s worth, I think you’re being really sweet to worry about her so much.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman shrugged, pretending not to notice Sasha’s gesture. “She’s fun to be around and I can tell she’s sensitive. If I can spare her from embarrassment, that’s even better.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha nodded thoughtfully, finally pulling her arm from atop Roman’s. “I think that’ll work. Then tomorrow I’ll take her to play skee-ball and eat ice cream at Humperdinck’s. That always makes her feel better.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman snickered. “She really would be a great girlfriend,” he admitted, shaking his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasha rolled her eyes again, shaking her head at Roman’s indecisiveness. “You’re not in love with her, and she deserves someone who’s going to dote on her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman took another long drink of his iced green tea, before shaking his head again. “Thanks, Sasha. I’m gonna head to class now, but text me when you get Bayley to the ZBZ house. That way I can talk to her alone. Okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re a good guy, Roman. Even if you don’t necessarily want everyone to see it.” With that, Sasha finished her coffee and got up from her chair, patted Roman on the shoulder, and strode toward her afternoon Chem Lab, while the giant Samoan she was talking to sat idly for another moment, contemplating the situation he found himself in…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time the Zeta Beta Zeta “Crush Party” came around the following evening, Alexa was just really ready for the week to be done with. Her biggest and most pressing issue was the lack of free time she’d had to spend with Dean. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean. When she’d first propositioned the young man at the Lambda Chi “Pref Party,” he’d been little more than a means to an end. A way to make Adam insanely jealous and, as it turned out, an earth-shattering lay. But with every minute she spent with the intrepid, some would say clinically insane, young football player, Alexa found herself falling faster and further into something she was afraid to define.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Could I really be in love with this kid already?” Was her constant internal question. Part of her worry was that she was jumping too quickly into a relationship after her breakup with Adam Cole, though Dean was already treating her a thousand times better than Cole ever had. The tiny blonde was also already considering what Parents Weekend was going to look like. The mental image of her mega-rish whitebread parents meeting the reformed juvenile delinquent she was sharing her bed with made the impetuous Alexa smile on the inside. Having said that, she was fairly certain Dean wouldn’t stick around if he even suspected Alexa was only dating him to upset her parents. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Truth be told, that wasn’t at all why she’d become so taken with the freshman. If she were totally honest with herself, it was a little beyond her why she’d fallen so far, so fast with this kid who was so unlike anyone she’d ever gotten serious with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her train of thought was interrupted, as it almost always was, by her best friend and ZBZ “big sis” Trish Stratus. Even now, an hour before their “Crush Party” was set to begin, Stratus couldn’t help but go over the entire room visually one final time before the bulk of their guests descended upon their lavish home. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey girl,” Trish called brightly, causing a non-hostile eye roll from the shorter of the pair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Trish,” Alexa returned. “The house looks great,” she continued as Trish leaned in for a hug.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Trish replied saucily. “It’s ‘Crush Party’. This is one of our biggest fall events. Montez Ford is coming!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even for someone as used to hobnobbing with famous people as Alexa was, this revelation struck her as a big deal. Ford, all six feet one inch of him, was the Titan’s starting quarterback, and had just put on a show the Saturday previous by throwing for three touchdowns and running for one more. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?” Alexa asked, suitably impressed by this information.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish nodded excitedly. “Yep. Bianca made him a basket and he told her he wouldn’t miss it. A future franchise quarterback in our house!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa grinned brightly. In addition to her abnormally high level of school spirit, due to her status as cheerleader, the gorgeous pixie could remember distinctly her ex Adam ranting on and on about how much he hated Montez Ford and how Ford’s coming to SU had ruined his life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great! I mean, there’s already gonna be a lot of athletes here, but Montez’ll really give us some oomph!” Alexa crowed, clearly growing more excited about the impending festivities. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish snickered, ready to respond, but the startling sound of Pledge Bayley stomping dejectedly across the first floor of the house, her best friend Pledge Sasha following her hurriedly and trying to get her to slow down. After another moment, the massive form of Roman Reigns came bounding through the same door, doing his best to avoid having his face being seen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Roman!” Alexa called, not willing to let the giant Samoan vacate the premises without drawing the proper attention to his presence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Roman grumbled in return, clearly not comfortable with his current surroundings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’re you doing here so early? The party isn’t for another hour,” the tiny blonde continued, descending the stairs to the main floor, her best friend Trish just a step behind her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman rolled his eyes. “I had to deal with something.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish’s eyes narrowed. “Does that ‘something’ involve two of my pledges storming out of here a minute ago?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman nodded, averting his gaze from the pair. “Yeah. Bayley sent me a ‘Crush Basket,’ and I didn’t want to tell her in front of everyone that I don’t like her… that way. I figured getting slapped with no audience was better than getting slapped in front of sixty camera phones.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both gorgeous ZBZ’s chuckled. “Yeah, I could understand not wanting to get the shit slapped out of you,” Trish admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman nodded. “Yeah, and I like Bayley. She’s become a really good friend. I just don’t see her that way. I DO see another ZBZ that way, though. Tell me about Dana Brooke.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa and Trish both scoffed, almost in unison.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A little bold, aren’t we?” Stratus asked him, an air of incredulity in her voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman grinned, a bit more mischievously than either Trish or Alexa thought was necessary. “I mean, she sent me a crush basket, am I supposed to be humble?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa couldn’t help but laugh, seeing a bit of Dean’s irreverent sense of humor in Roman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough. I like Dana. She’s a Sophomore, I think. Maybe a Junior. Health Science Major. Softball player. Wants to teach high school gym and coach when she graduates.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman contemplated this a moment, then nodded appreciatively. “Thanks, Lexi.” He turned, intending to leave, before one final notion struck him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My mom asked me about you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa’s brow rose in curiosity. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really? Me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman nodded. “Yeah. I guess Dean is pretty tight-lipped with the details when it comes to his personal life. Plus, I love my mom, but she’s super nosy. Like, ‘should write for TMZ’ nosy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa giggled as Trish rolled her eyes, though even she had to acknowledge that Roman Reigns could be quite disarming with his charm when he wanted to be. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mine too,” Alexa called back, finding her resentment of Roman for his rejection of Bayley dissipating by the second. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Trish sighed, “sounds like you did that the right way. Last year some guy came to tell Nikki Cross he wasn’t interested and she stabbed him in the arm with a nail file.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reigns grimaced. “Shit. She didn’t get in trouble?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stratus shook her head. “Turns out most guys won’t report assault by a female, especially if it’s not sexual and in public.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa grinned and shrugged. “Yeah. When Adam broke up with me last year I kicked him in the dick in front of his entire fraternity and he just tried to act like it didn’t hurt.” She began laughing as the memory overtook her. “Remember, Trish? He had tears in his eyes and he was like ‘next time don’t hold anything back’ and his knees were all wobbly…” Her grin grew even wider. “That was awesome.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trish shared a giggle with her friend as Roman’s face grew to a mask of horror. “Yeah, so, remind me never to upset you. Ever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa’s grin curled upward, giving her an almost evil air. “Don’t fuck with me and we won’t have any problems.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman threw his hands up in front of him. “Hey, you don’t need to worry about that.” Still not sure whether or not Alexa was joking, the huge Samoan backed away slowly and disappeared from view.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was… impressive,” Trish asserted to her Sorority sister.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shrugged again, her lighthearted nature once again taking over. “I need to make sure he knows not to fuck with me before parent’s weekend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Laughing harder, Trish Stratus rolled her eyes amiably and followed her friend into the great room, wondering how it was exactly that she found herself in this situation…</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time Dean Ambrose and his teammates actually reached the ZBZ Crush Party, there was no doubt in the young man’s mind that he’d missed some pretty sweet stuff already. What shocked him the most, however, was how intoxicated his love interest seemed to be. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heeeeeeeey lover,” Alexa cooed, her voice slurring noticeably. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit, Lex, you been at it long?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa gave her man her most mischievous grin. “Long enough to have sex on the brain.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ambrose chuckled. “That doesn’t help me narrow down how long you’ve been drinking. It only takes like thirty three seconds for me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This time the blonde couldn’t contain her laughter. “A lot of things only take you thirty three seconds, Dean.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ambrose rolled his eyes, though he had to admit it was a funny dig. Before he could fire back, however, the pair was surrounded by commotion, apparently emanating from the front entrance to the house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Turning, Dean’s eyes widened slightly as he saw who was at the center of it all. “Holy shit, it’s Montez Ford.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa snickered. “It sure is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The gathering crowd parted like the red sea as the Stamford U quarterback, followed by five or six teammates, strolled slowly through the onlookers, greeting them with a pompous smile or brief, exaggerated wave.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“... Yeah, yeah, ‘Tez loves you all. Thank you for supporting Tez.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean shook his head. “I forgot he only refers to himself in the third person. He changes one aisle over from me in the locker room and I’ve only spoken to him like twice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa’s eyes were fixed on the quarterback. The lithe pixie had no romantic designs on Ford, but she was still in awe of his immense, transcendent talent and bombastic personality. Her smile grew as the star athlete made his way closer to Dean and his friends. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wassup, folk? It’s ‘hashtag Tez Time’.” The brash young athlete basked in the adoration of his peers for a moment, his dark designer sunglasses reflecting the party lights from the DJ booth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re on the team, right?” Ford continued, pointing at a bewildered Ambrose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, yeah,” Dean stammered, trying not to look like a complete dipshit in front of the star of the Titans football team.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me,” Ford blurted, his air of cocky congeniality as thick as it always was. “Ambrosia, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa burst out laughing as Dean tried not to turn bright red.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ambrose,” Dean corrected, though his eyes were now firmly attached to the floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, right, cool. Well, Tez has noticed the work you puttin’ in there, Ambrose,” Ford quickly replied. “Keep it up.” He snickered, remembering who he was and why he was at the ZBZ house to begin with. “So,” he changed direction, pulling an invitation out of his back pocket. “Where is Bianca BelAir?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa rolled her eyes, her inhibition gone as a result of her copious drinking. “Last I saw her, she and Dana Brooke were in the game room, standing on their hands with their feet up on the wall seeing who could ‘twerk’ like that the longest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean and Montez made eye contact, both their eyebrows raising in curiosity at the thought of something like that taking place so close to them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean spoke first. “You mean we could’ve been watching that and you’ve had me in here this whole time?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa snickered, rolling her eyes at Dean’s assertion. “Yeah. Too bad you had to spend time with your ‘insanely fuckable’ and ‘almost drunk enough to be talked into fooling around with you and another cheerleader’ lady friend instead. Dick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean couldn’t suppress his hearty chortle, and even the unflappable Montez Ford allowed a small chuckle, though he hid his own laugh behind the red Solo cup he was holding. Before Ford could respond, two giggling ZBZ’s, clearly inebriated, cautiously approached the standout athlete.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi. We think you’re the best,” the girl closest to Alexa began, a sheepish smile plastered across her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ladies. Tez knows he’s the best. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His boisterous, clearly exaggerated cackle was immediately copied by the members of his entourage, who all tilted their heads to the ceiling and guffawed heartily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as quickly, Ford immediately stopped and resumed his composed, straight faced demeanor. Only a split second after he did, the football players surrounding him composed themselves in the exact same way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Will you take a selfie with us?” The second girl inquired, seeming almost terrified to ask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tez loves selfies. Make sure you tag my Insta and use the hashtag ‘KingTez,’ ‘Teezy,’ or ‘SoloTez’ so the cup company sees.” He turned toward Alexa and Dean. “Tez gets a hundred bucks under the table every time someone tags the Solo cup company in a picture with me in it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded somberly, in complete awe of the presence of the star quarterback. Before he could think of something to say that he thought was worthy of conversing with Ford, the girls were prancing away from the huddle of acquaintances, buzzing about the great pictures they’d gotten. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And who are these guys?” Alexa finally asked, trying to bring the conversation back around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Montez exclaimed, reminded of what he’d been thinking of before his admirers had interrupted. Gesturing towards the tallest and most imposing of his companions, Ford began his introduction. “This here is Angelo Dawkins.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sup,” Dawkins muttered, never taking his eyes or scrolling thumb off the screen of his phone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dawk is the center. He protects Tez. Tez likes having Dawk around. Dawk is vital to keeping Tez’s moneymaker-” Ford gestured around his face with his hands, “flawless, and Tez is very interested in keeping the moneymaker flawless.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa and Dean glanced at each other, unsure if the entity before them was a real person or an alcohol induced hallucination. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, okay,” Ambrose finally sputtered. Continuing, Ford scanned the room. “Okay, folks, time for Tez to find his queen, ya dig?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa chuckled. “I guess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, beautiful people, Tez out.” With that, Ford swaggered toward the room Alexa pointed to earlier, leaving a small crowd of stunned onlookers in his path.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...the fuck was that?” Dean wondered aloud. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa giggled at the pure absurdity of the encounter, before remembering something the quarterback said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ambrosia,” she kidded, poking Dean in the rib playfully and grinning brightly at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shaddup,” he growled, before grabbing her up in an affectionate embrace and spinning her, as she emitted a delighted squeal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dean, stooooooooop,” she cried, though she was thoroughly enjoying the public display of affection, particularly when there were several Lambda Chi’s who were potentially in eyeshot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go upstairs,” she whispered in Dean’s ear, before nibbling on his ear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t wanna dance or anything first?” Ambrose inquired, though he had no objection to her proposal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The party goes ‘til one AM,” she returned, taking Dean’s face in between her hands. “I’ve missed you more than I thought I would the last day or two, and I wanna spend some naked time with you before we do anything else.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds good to me, darlin’,” Ambrose returned, allowing Alexa to lead him by the hand back up the stairs. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Next Time on “The U;” It’s parent’s weekend! How will the Bliss Clan handle meeting their baby girl’s new, scruffy boyfriend! How will her ex, Adam, make his unwanted presence felt? Will Bayley bounce back from her kind yet painful rejection? When the entire Reigns family descends upon Stamford, what will the repercussions be? Find out next time on “The U!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Review.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6 Pt. 1: Parents Just Don't Understand</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's Parents Weekend! What will happen when worlds come together. And we get our first look at Ruby's world, her new friends, and a potential troublesome presence in her life.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 6: Parents Just Don’t Understand</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The feedback from last chapter was awesome! Thanks for indulging my little mini-rant in the comments. Sometimes business must be handled. Also, we will be meeting a few new-ish folks this chapter; Otis Dozovic, Shotzi Blackheart and Nikki Cross, amongst others. The makeover continues. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Also, I’ve come to a big, story-altering decision; I’m retconning where Stamford University is. The simple fact is that traditional college life tends to be better in the South and Midwest. From now on, Stamford U will be in Western North Carolina, near Asheville &amp; Weaverville. I’m not going back and changing a bunch of horseshit. It’s like when “Good Morning Ms. Bliss” turned into “Saved by the Bell” (google it, you little shitheels). One year they’re in a normal-ass school in Indiana and the next year they’re at Bayside. Just go with it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuuuuuck!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That lone word, repeated for at least the hundredth time in the last five minutes, rang down the halls of the Zeta Beta Zeta house, empty as it was, and dissipated out somewhere in the atmosphere over greater North Florida.. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the pair of students making love in Alexa Bliss’s bedroom, however, it was the only thought on either of their minds. Alexa Bliss, said room’s assigned resident, found herself in a state of euphoria she didn’t often reach, all the while bent over the trunk at the foot of her bed, her cheerleading practice shorts pulled to her ankles and the front of her white spaghetti strap t-shirt hastily yanked up over her generous chest and up to her mouth, her pearly white teeth biting down on the cotton material and her lover’s right arm extended across both breasts, his left hand holding a giant handful of her shirt, giving the appearance of him using a bridle on her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna come, Lexi,” Dean groaned, his entire physical form beginning to tense from head to toe as the tingle began to build up inside him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmmmmmph,” she moaned in return, the fabric in her mouth muffling what Dean really hoped was a sound giving him the “go ahead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a final window-shaking moan from both participants, Dean released everything he had built up, causing his knees to buckle slightly as Alexa rocked her hips into him, bringing their pubic bones together one final time, before pulling her shirt down and slowly lowering herself onto the wooden trunk, a breathy, satisfied giggle escaping her now unencumbered lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was super fucking hot, baby,” she admitted, her eyes closed. She began slowly crawling her way to her normal spot in bed, tugging her remaining clothes into the correct alignment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Goddam,” Ambrose responded, finding himself laying down and scooting close to his love interest, though he wasn’t sure what her proper title was yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa rolled over, only to find that Dean was now almost directly in the middle of her queen bed, her chin making the lightest contact with his pectoral. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wish we could do that the rest of the day,” she bemoaned, not at all concerned with her Sorority sister’s impending return.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Me too,” Dean agreed, stretching his large frame over the length of Alexa’s bed. “Too bad practice is mandatory for my scholarship or whatever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, what do they think this is, an institution of higher learning?” Alexa responded playfully, rolling her eyes in mock dissatisfaction. She raised her head, kissing Dean affectionately on his chin, gently giving him a nibble.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn, babe,” Dean groaned, clearly responding to her seemingly unending desire to be around him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmmmm,” the tiny blonde moaned, unhappy that she had other places to be that day. Running her fingernails up and down Dean’s serrated chest, Alexa planted a line of sweet kisses down his jawline and neck to his pectoral.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t,” she complained, pushing herself away from her love interest. “We both have practice, and after last week you know they aren’t gonna let us blow anything off.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean snickered and shook his head, still in awe of the previous weekend’s game. After their first win against Appalachian State, the small powerhouse college found itself receiving some regional attention. This past weekend, the weekend after the Crush Party, Stamford again pulled off an upset victory, this time over the Southern Miss Eagles. This game, which the Titans won by a 34-24 score, featured Montez Ford again showing out, lighting up the Eagles defense with three total touchdowns, with Apollo Crews also rumbling nearly the length of the field in the fourth quarter to seal the game for the Titans. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What that meant to Dean and Alexa was that for this coming weekend, in addition to their various families visiting for “Parent’s Weekend,” there was going to be national media present for their game against Marshall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah,” Alexa continued as she began wandering around her room, considering a t-shirt change. “We need to talk about parent’s weekend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean raised his eyebrows. “What, are they not really American royalty?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The diminutive beauty queen giggled, shaking her head at Dean’s nonstop irreverence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I just didn’t tell you everything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like?” Dean fired back, the feeling of dread building up within him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing that big. Just, like, my parents just wrapped up a nasty divorce.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ambrose raised his brow in surprise. “Wait, what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa snickered wryly, though there was no humor in it. “So, I guess about eight minutes after I left for college, my mom came home from the office and caught my dad going balls deep in one of the graduate interns.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gahdamn,” Ambrose spat in complete surprise. “Really?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shook her head, the recollection of that memory causing great irritation. “Yeah. That wasn’t the worst part, though.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean scoffed in surprise. “How was that not the worst part?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The worst part was that I knew her. We went to the same high school. She was a senior when I was a freshman.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy fuck,” Dean almost shouted, genuinely rattled by what he was hearing. “Really?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa nodded. “Yep. Her name is Jackie Gayda. She was one of the girls the high school used to send over to the middle school to teach us cheers. After my mom left my dad’s sorry ass he married Jackie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He married her?” Dean exclaimed. “Holy shit. At least he committed all the way. Most guys don’t marry the side piece.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa chuckled despite herself. “That’s not all, though.” She crossed the room back to Dean. “Dad is really, really pissed that I broke it off with Adam, so I wouldn’t get too chummy with him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa wrapped her arms around Dean’s neck loosely, kissing him again on the neck, knowing that the young man might not appreciate a kiss on the lips considering where her mouth had been some twenty minutes earlier. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Dean inquired, genuinely curious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you know who Michael Cole is?” Alexa fired back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean shook his head slowly. “Should I?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tiny blonde laughed. “Not really. He’s one of the Senators that represents New Jersey. Dad likes having powerful friends, and Senator Cole was his most powerful.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, shit,” Dean mused playfully. “You think it would help if I told your dad that my dad is captain of his softball team? I mean, that’s power you can’t buy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa laughed, then shook her head. “No. For a long time now he’s been set on me marrying into a family that gives him more power. It’s some serious </span>
  <em>
    <span>Game of Thrones </span>
  </em>
  <span>shit. Now, give me two minutes to brush my teeth and freshen up and we’ll go have lunch before class, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded, then plopped down on the bed and tried not to invade Alexa’s privacy while she was down the hall in the communal bathroom. Instead, he tried to do what he could to straighten the mess they’d made during their tousling about that morning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon,” Alexa beckoned him from the doorway to her bedroom, holding her hand for him to take. Dean got a full whiff of her minty fresh breath, and smiled to himself as he pulled her back into him for a hug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he followed her down the hall, a previously forgotten thought recurred to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Lex,” he restarted, “can I ask you something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” she returned brightly, “but if it’s ‘do we have time for one more blowjob before class’ the answer is ‘probably not’.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean chuckled, though deep down it made him warm inside to hear how fond Alexa seemed to be of doing things like that with and for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are we?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa stopped completely and spun on her heels. “What do you mean,” she pressed, hooking her pointer fingers in his belt loops and kissing him lightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean, my mom and dad are coming tomorrow too, and when you meet my mom, I’m not sure I want to introduce you as my ‘fuck buddy.’ I mean, it might be fun to see her face right after I said that, but it’s not a discussion I want to have.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa chuckled loudly, thinking about her mom’s reaction if or when she told her that her main bond with Dean at this point was that they had spectacular sex when together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, I was actually thinking about this the other day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You were?” Dean almost shouted as the pair started walking slowly down the main thoroughfare of the third floor of House ZBZ.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she admitted in response, taking Dean’s hand and intertwining her fingers with his. It was the first time she could remember doing that when the two weren’t going directly to the bedroom.  “First of all, I want you to know that I’m not seeing anyone else, and haven’t since we started…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Boning?” Dean finished, tickled that such a highly respected ZBZ and prominent cheerleader would struggle to define a relationship based on sex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eww,” the pixie retorted, her face twisting into a mask of disgust. After a beat, she relented back into a smile, letting Dean know she was joking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Physically interacting,” she continued, having found the right phrase in her mind. “So when you introduce me, why don’t you tell your mom ‘this is Alexa. We’re dating.’”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded. “Sounds good, even though we haven’t been on any dates that didn’t involve one of our houses.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shrugged. “This early in the year, with football and cheer and house stuff and getting into the swing of classes, it’s hard to make time for anything else. Do you want to start going on dates?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded, almost imperceptibly, though his eyes never left the floor. “Yeah. Can we go to the movies Sunday night after everyone is gone?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa’s grin turned as bright as Dean had ever seen it, as she threw her arms around Dean’s neck and squealed softly with delight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes! Let’s get through the drama with everyone’s parents and then we can figure out what we’re gonna go see. I’m really excited.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean did his best to hide the abject shock from his face. He had no idea Alexa felt as strongly as she did about wanting to begin an official relationship with him. After all, she was one of two head cheerleaders, the Rush Chair for ZBZ and the odds on favorite to win Homecoming Queen this year. Yet here she was, bouncing up and down on her toes in excitement about spending even more time with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyway,” she continued, “what I was gonna say is that I don’t want to feel like I’m introducing you as my boyfriend just to upset my dad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean snickered. “You know that would be completely okay with me, right? Like, that happened so much in high school it’d could’ve been a service I charge for.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa gave a loud guffaw before checking her volume. They’d been lucky when they were having their extremely voluminous sex a bit before. Almost everyone had been either in class or at intramural flag football practice while Alexa and Dean were at their loudest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I figured. And, if I didn’t care, I might would take you up on that offer. But I’m at the point where It really matters to me how you feel and what you think. As weird as it is to say, it’s true.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean nodded again, a thoughtful look permeating over his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but we’re headed in that direction?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa grinned, nodding in the affirmative. “We are! And I think the only reason we aren’t ‘official’ yet is because I do think it’s a good idea to actually do some non-Greek related things together first. And, if I do slip and introduce you as my boyfriend, just roll with it, k?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean snickered. “I guarantee I will not have a problem with you calling me that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aww,” Alexa bemused brightly. As the two resumed their short journey out into the world, it didn’t escape Dean Ambrose that the tiny blonde he was becoming so fond of had her hand hooked in his elbow, and that she didn’t seem to care who saw them act like a couple.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they approached the front door, Dean’s phone went off in a miniature cacophony, with the particular sound it was making tipping Dean off as to who was making contact.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit,” he muttered to himself, “mandatory surprise meeting at KD as soon as class is over. We still getting together after practice?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa grinned and nodded. “Yep,” she chirped, kissing him quickly on his chin. “I'll see you then!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, Bliss split off from her man, needing to hurry if she was going to make it to her class. As he watched her walk away, Dean Ambrose asked himself for the three thousandth time how he’d gotten so lucky.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby Riott awoke from her deep slumber to both a strange sensation and the sound of light giggling in her ear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The fuck?” She mused internally, unable to place what was happening at that moment. Before she could piece it together, however, she realized exactly who the cheerful laughter belonged to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shotzi, knock it off,” Ruby continued, attempting to bury her face into her pillow and forget that she was having to face her day. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aww, you’re no fun,” Shotzi returned, nibbling on Ruby’s ear again as she pressed her body against Riott’s from the other side of the bedspread. Planting a playful kiss on Ruby’s cheek, the eccentric emerald-haired young woman allowed Ruby to raise from her bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you about that,” Ruby continued, rubbing her ear. “Stop being weird.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t,” Shotzi observed. “Weird is what I fuckin’ do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There really was no denying that fact. From the first minute Ruby had met Shotzi, when the tiny little green-maned manic ball of energy had moved into her apartment and turned her life upside down, “weird” seemed to become the order of the day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’d originally met not long after Ruby’d begun working at Black Mass Tattoos. Her boss, a scary seeming but fairly congenial Dutchman named Aleister Black, immediately took to having Ruby around to keep track of the finances and helping him prep customers to be inked. Only a day or two in, Shotzi burst into Ruby’s consciousness by loudly storming through the shop’s front door with a big friendly greeting and a hug to Black that Ruby found curious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ruby, this is Amanda, but we usually call her her stage name.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The green-haired young woman extended Ruby a hand. “Shotzi Blackheart.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby’s eyes widened in a mixture of shock and curiosity. “Stage name?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Aleister nodded, before gesturing to Shotzi  to explain.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah,” she returned. “I’m in a metal band with Aleister and a few other friends of ours. We play the Southern metal scene a lot. Athens, Greenville, Asheville, Atlanta, even some in West Virginia.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What’s the name of the band?” Ruby inquired as she attempted to gather her thoughts after this deluge of new information. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Deepwater Demons,” the other girl fired back. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sounds mellow,” Riott quipped, noticing for the first time that Shotzi’s eyes were wandering all over her tattooed body.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“So evil you can fall asleep to it,” Blackheart fired back, the grin growing wide on her face. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby chuckled again. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Shotzi,” the jet black haired girl chirped, as brightly as would be acceptable for her to say. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Likewise, babe,” Blackheart replied, before winking at Aleister, who was watching the exchange with amusement.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>In the present, Ruby scooted to the edge of her bed, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was only clad in black underwear and her favorite BLACK VEIL BRIDES t-shirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snickering, Shotzi playfully swatted her roommate on the backside, prompting a shocked squeal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop, Shotzi,” Ruby pleaded softly, though deep down she didn’t mind the well-intentioned playful nature of her unexpected new friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t help it. I didn’t think being friends with Aleister would end up getting me such a sexy-ass roommate. Literally. Your ass is sexy, and I like the view I have of it right now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby rolled her eyes and slid a pair of black cutoff denim shorts up her shapely legs and to rest where they belonged before threading a heavily riveted leather belt through the loops and selecting a buckle from a drawer in her armoire that appeared to be filled to the brim with them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Iggy and the Stooges? Nice,” Shotzi observed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby grinned and nodded. “Yeah, my adopted brother Dean got this for me a few years ago. It’s my favorite one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And he’s the one you’re going to see this weekend?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The taller, darker haired of the two nodded in the affirmative. “Yeah, my adopted family is coming up from Tampa. It’s ‘Parent’s Weekend’ at Stamford U this weekend and I’ve made some friends over there. Wanna get up there to see mom and dad and Dean and Roman and the rest of them. I heard my oldest brother Matt is coming, too. Bringing his wife and their little girl.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shotzi smiled, a genuinely warm feeling washing over here. “That’s really cool, Ruby. Family’s awesome. I wish I saw mine more, but they’re on the other side of the country.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Ruby sighed, trying to contain her internal glee, “I got really lucky. My bio family, from what I remember, were giant pieces of shit. I went into the foster system before I graduated elementary school. I met Dean in a group home, then we ended up together at a few fucking rotten foster homes, and then we ended up with the Reigns family. They loved us well. Still do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shotzi nodded. “I’m glad you’re getting to see them.” She sighed deeply, staring at the ground momentarily before continuing her train of thought. “I know I come on a little strong-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya think?” Ruby retorted suddenly, though she was mostly kidding. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Blackheart snickered again. “It’s just really nice to meet someone who doesn’t meet me as a metal singer first. I feel like I might have a chance to get to know you as a person, and my… let’s call it a burgeoning interest in the same sex got the better of me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby considered this a moment. “Understandable,” she finally concluded. “I’m not gay, though.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shotzi shrugged. “Neither am I. I like getting railed too much for that.” Ruby chortled at Shotzi’s continued brazen honesty. “But I hooked up with a few girls on tour over the summer, and I found that I REALLY enjoy it. If you’re not into that, I’ll leave you alone and we can just be roommates.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That would probably be best,” Ruby asserted. “I mean, you’re hot, but what if we were to start banging and then it gets weird? I’d have to find a new roommate, and I feel like we might be really good friends.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shotzi sighed, finally comprehending that she wasn’t going to get her way this time. “That’s fair. But if you decide you want to start experimenting, holler at me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby rolled her eyes, but gave a friendly chuckle. “Absolutely.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, the conversation turned to what Ruby needed to get done before she left to go visit her family. Shotzi listened gamely and smiled, but inside there was a growing desire for intimacy with her new roommate…</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck?” That’s all Dean could muster in his mind at the moment. He found himself taking in the slightly absurd, patently surreal situation around him. Packed into the ground floor chapter meeting room, no less than twenty KD pledges sat or kneeled in rapt attention as their pledge educator, Daniel Bryan, did his best not to berate the class of initiates for some of the ignorant questions he was getting from what he saw as an unkempt herd of steaming freshman dipshits.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...no, Otis, we don’t normally have reps from other houses just burst in and make proclamations mid-party. That’s actually a violation of the Greek Council Honor Code. We could’ve reported them, but then Ambrose and Brother Wilder decided to start throwing hands and everyone involved decided to just walk away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The big man nodded, pondering this a moment. “Okay. I jus’ seen this cartoon one time where the different houses ran in durin’ the shindig and started talkin’ shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brother Bryan snickered and shook his head. “You mean that horseshit cartoon someone’s animating and posting on Youtube that’s clearly written by someone who’s never been to college, let alone in a Greek organization?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Otis glanced his eyes from one side to the other. ”Uh, yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck that show,” Bryan spat. “Three hundred episodes of bullshit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, I think there’s only like a hundred,” Tucker Knight interjected from his perch against the wall. As a brother, he had the right to sit it on any pledge session.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bryan chuckled. “Ah. So it only feels like three hundred because the characters always spend ten minutes at a time telling each other they love each other every single chapter?” The room broke up with laughter, remembering the story’s main character crying when he proposed to the female lead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bunch of pussies on that show,” he continued. “Dude gets to have a threesome on spring break and cries about it after. What a bitch.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The laughter around the room grew louder as the KD personnel in the room snickered at what a ludicrous idea that seemed to be. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Enough with the chit chat over some chick show. Down to business,” Bryan continued forcefully, the eyes in the room focused on him again. “This weekend is parents weekend. Now, since all the actives have had at least one opportunity to display what degenerates they are to their families, we usually leave the planning of this event up to the pledges.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Several freshmen scoffed in disbelief, though Dean and Roman both opted for silence. After a moment, another pledge that Dean had only met a few times but knew by the name Chad Gable, spoke up defiantly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Brother Bryan, no offense, but no one here joined a Frat to-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His glib statement was cut off by the enraged eyes and quaking form of Daniel Bryan. “What the fuck did you call it, pledge?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Gable asked, truly flabbergasted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Instead of addressing Gable’s transgression directly, Bryan turned his gaze to the entire room. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear to every pledge in this room; we do not refer to Kappa Delta as a ‘frat.’ Would you call your country a cunt? No? Then don’t ever shorten the term that defines what we are. Understand?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A stunned Gable stammered, shaking his head in shock and confusion. “Uh, I think so.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bryan smirked, which Dean had gleaned meant someone was in trouble. “Well let’s make sure; Bows and Toes, everyone!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A collective groan echoed throughout the room. After one or more resentful gazes at Gable, the entire Pledge class assumed the ordered position. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Enjoying the power he’d been given over the crop of Freshmen, Bryan smirked arrogantly as their straining groans began in earnest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Daniel continued berating the pledges, Dean’s arms began to burn. Gritting his teeth, the freshman did his best to let his mind go to his happy place; somewhere quiet with his tiny blonde lover.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>By that Friday afternoon, just about everyone involved was simply ready for parent’s weekend to be over. Which wasn’t good, since the benchmark event hadn’t even officially started yet. A few sets of parents had begun arriving at the ZBZ house, mostly staying in the lobby until the official events began. Never one to skimp on refreshments, Trish Stratus had coordinated a wonderful spread of finger foods and libations for the adults, who spent the first hour or so swapping stories of their daughter’s achievements while sipping champagne and nibbling at assorted macaroons with the ZBZ logo prominently displayed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa Bliss was no exception. She’d just received a text from her mom letting her know that she’d be along in a half an hour or so, and the tiny blonde’s heart skipped a beat at the prospect of reuniting with her mother. In all the drama surrounding her parents’ divorce, she’d become closer with her mom than she had ever been, though her move to Florida made it hard to see Monica on a consistent basis. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perfect,” she thought to herself as she applied the finishing touches to her hair and makeup from her familiar perch in front of her large, yet not at all surprisingly sized vanity. “As though there was any doubt.” She smiled, revelling in how easily she commanded her own presence, before her bedroom door swung open violently and her roommate completely upended the afternoon’s relative tranquility.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lexah!” The chestnut haired whirling dervish blurted, thrilled to death to see her best friend. Without warning, the girl threw her arms haphazardly around Alexa’s dainty neck, drawing a sharp inhale of shock from the blonde.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nikki! Hi! Don’t mess up my hair, please!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” Nikki continued, releasing her ZBZ sister from her vise-like grip. “I’m just so happy to see ya without yer new man here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa giggled, before nodding her acknowledgement. “Yeah, he is here a lot, isn't he?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nikki rolled her eyes playfully, kneeling next to her friend and taking in her own appearance before resting her head on Alexa’s shoulder. “You’re so pretty, Lexi,” Nikki continued, her thick Scottish accent twisting around her words in a manner Alexa actually found adorable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Nikki,” Alexa cooed, trying not to let Nikki’s usual over affection bother her in any way. Nikki had had something of a sheltered upbringing, as her mother was a diplomat and her father had taken off when Nikki was just a little girl, leading her mom to try to protect her from the outside world even more. As a result, Nikki had graduated from one of Scotland’s finest boarding schools with no real friends to speak of, and had imprinted Alexa as a sister-like figure almost immediately after they met. Alexa still fondly remembered Nikki beating the detergent dispenser in the basement laundry of Guerrero Hall with her bare fist, cursing up a storm because the machine had “eaten” three quarters without producing any soap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is your mom coming?” The blonde continued, trying again to ignore Nikki stroking her hair gently, before sweetly fut firmly taking Nikki’s hand and setting it in her own lap, a friendly but firm smile on her face. “We talked about that, Nik. We have boundaries, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nikki pouted, not completely understanding why Alexa wasn’t responsive to her affection. “I’m sorry, friend, it’s just good to spend some time with yah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa hugged Nikki tight to her, causing the Scottish girl’s soul to warm considerably. “It’s okay, buddy,” Alexa returned, “just remember what we discussed. I’m not always okay with people in my bubble, but I love you like family and I’m always happy you’re around, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nikki nodded and grinned, the imaginary slight already behind her. Inwardly, Alexa breathed a sigh of relief. A large part of her first year at Stamford had been spent teaching Nikki what was and wasn’t okay when it came to personal space. Nikki had no experience in such matters, and Alexa had awakened several times that term finding Nikki snuggled next to her in bed or staring at her as she slept. Nikki was harmless, and had the best heart Alexa had ever known, but she’d had to put a lot of work in when it came to the Scottish girl’s sense of propriety.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Nikki crowed, rising to her feet. “I’m excited to meet yer mom,” she continued. “I know this is the first time she’s been able to come see the house, and I want to make a good impression.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa nodded and smiled again. “I’ve told her all about you, and what a good friend you are. Just don’t tackle her like you do me when you meet her, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nikki pouted again, though this time her sadness was even more exaggerated. “Fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, buddy, let’s go,” Alexa offered finally, checking her appearance one final time before offering her hand to Nikki. Smiling, Cross took Alexa’s hand in hers, letting her lead the way to the main floor, where both Monica Bliss and Dr. Aileen Cross would soon arrive to reunite with their daughters…</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <strong>Part 2 will go here. Because that's where it goes. </strong>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Review. Or don't. But you should.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 6 part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I really lost the plot during this. I'm going to be doing more re-tooling. Next chapter will be more Seth focused, then a CharLynch, then a Ruby, then so on. Gonna be more episodic.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The U Chapter 6 pt. 2.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you to those who took the time to review. Special thanks to my buddy xXBalorBabeXx for her input.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Remember; they’re in Western North Carolina. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>As the sun went down over the Appalachian Mountains, Stamford University found itself in the throes of one of the school year’s most stressful events; Parent’s Weekend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the Institute, as well as the surrounding businesses, the uptick in commerce was a welcome inclusion, but the students whose parents were actually visiting were all sweating bullets. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For Alexa Bliss, this weekend brought the first chance for her to spend time with her mom since she’d left for school. She and her mom spent a lot of time together ordinarily, but this weekend felt extremely important. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom!” The tiny blonde called from the front porch of the ZBZ house as she spotted her mother exiting her rideshare. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lexi!” Monica Bliss returned, her arms wide open to receive her daughter. “You look so great, sweetie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa did her best not to blush. For as beautiful as Alexa’s friends constantly insisted she was, hearing words of affirmation regarding her appearance from her stunning mother confirmed everything she needed from the adult she most looked up to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, mom,” Alexa half-whispered. “How are you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica Bliss exhaled deeply. The entire drive to Western North Carolina from Ohio, Alexa’s beleaguered mom had debated whether or not to tell Alexa the piece of news she’d been carrying with her most of the week.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m… okay, I guess. Have you talked to your dad recently?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa scoffed, rolling her eyes in caustic amusement at the notion that she gave fuck number one about her adulterous father and any of the machinations in his daily life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ewww. No. I told you, I’m hashtag ‘Team Mom’ in the Bliss divorce war.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica smiled brightly, her heart warming slightly at this show of affection from her daughter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I appreciate that, but he IS paying for your education, so you should at least shoot him a text and let him know you’re alive once in a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tiny blonde exhaled deeply, clearly not enjoying this topic of conversation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica chuckled this time, raising her eyebrows at how angry Alexa clearly still was at her father. Deciding now was as good a time as any to fill her daughter in, the older of the two knockouts slid an arm around her daughter as they traipsed away from the house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your father,” she began, her voice cracking with a mixture of anger and rejection. “Your father and his new wife are… expecting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa stopped dead in her tracks, feeling a wave of rage pile up within her. “The FUCK did you just say?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica nodded, her lips tight so her daughter wouldn't see how violently her top and bottom teeth were mashing together. “Yep. That idiot knocked up the dance teacher and now he’s telling all his relatives how excited he is for his ‘second chance to be a dad.’”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa, her fists balling up in an attempt to contain her contempt for her absentee father, simply clicked her lip with her tongue, shaking her head slowly from side to side and rolling her eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Since he did such a good job the first fucking time,” she muttered, prompting a loud “Ha!” from her mom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Monica continued, “I had to find out from his mom. You know Nana Bliss and I still talk regularly?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still think that’s weird, but do you, mom.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica shrugged. “She was my mother in law for what, eighteen years? And I can’t go a single phone call or visit without her telling me what an idiot her son is. She isn’t wrong about that, but I don’t know how much it helps to point that out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa sighed deeply, still processing what this new information meant for her. Since she’d gotten the news that her dad had left her mom for a girl barely three years older than her, the gorgeous ZBZ sister had pretty much written off her dad as being a part of her life. But, she reminded herself, there was going to be a baby that shared genetic material with her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Alexa concluded, exhaling deeply for what felt like the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes, “I’ll be nice to that kid, since it’s not it’s fault that it’s dad is a complete douche canoe, but I’m still not talking to dad unless I have to. He can keep paying for my college since he ruined every holiday I’ll ever have by shitting all over our family.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica nodded. There was a part of her that hated seeing Alexa so upset, because it wasn’t good for her to carry that kind of anger around, especially with her father. For the moment, however, Monica’s anger superseded even her daughter’s, and so she was happy to let Alexa carry a grudge momentarily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I understand, Lex. I understand why that hurts your feelings, but try not to let that ruin your weekend, okay? You get to meet Dean’s parents this weekend, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa nodded, a genuine smile crossing her face for the first time since her mother walked her down the sidewalk from the ZBZ House. There was nothing she could do about the abysmal decisions her father made that led her to this point, but letting his assholishness ruin her meeting Dean’s mother and father for the very first time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m really nervous. And excited. You gonna be on your best behavior when you meet him, mom?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica grinned, a hint of mischief in her countenance. “Why would you think I’d misbehave?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa shook her head. “I just remember last year when you flirted with Trish’s dad the whole weekend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica gave her daughter a look of exaggerated shock. “Cam Stratus is a neurosurgeon, and I had questions about brain function after forty.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The younger Bliss laughed more heartily this time. “Whatever. Your brain was probably the one part of your body you didn’t try to talk to him about.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa’s mom gasped playfully. “Alexa Jean Bliss! How dare you!?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The miniscule blonde smiled wickedly. “I dare quite a bit, mom. Now can we please go inside and get some drinks before I have to be on my best behavior?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Monica grinned brightly, sliding her arm back around her daughter’s shoulder. “That is the best idea you have had since I’ve been here, sweet girl.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pair turned from their post at the end of fraternity row, where they’d been walking since Monica’s arrival and headed back toward ZBZ. Alexa’s nerves were shot, and the frame of mind her mom seemed to be in wasn’t helping. All that had to wait. For now, all that mattered was spending time with her loving mom and making a great first impression with Dean’s caregivers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Later, as the meet and greet began turning into a party inside the ZBZ House, Alexa Bliss was far more nervous than she thought she’d be. As much as it sometimes bothered her to admit, she was growing to enjoy her time with Dean a bit more every day, and her desire to make a good first impression for his family was foremost on her mind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To that end, she’d “dressed to impress.” Her normal “traipsing around the house” attire, even for parent’s weekend, would’ve consisted of cheerleading shorts and a baseball t-shirt with ZBZ letters on them. For the Ambrose clan, however, Bliss had gone all out. Black dress pants that hugged every curve below her waist just the perfect amount, with a white button up shirt under an argyle baby blue and white sweater with ZBZ monogrammed over the left breast.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she watched with a tight-lipped smile as her own mother made small talk with Dr. Cross, Alexa’s heart began racing when she spotted her Dean leading a rather large group of mixed adults. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Ruby!” She called, her face brightening as she recognized her newest friend and future sorority sister. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alexa, hey,” Ruby returned, before taking in her new friend’s uncharacteristic attire. “Are you teaching Bible Study later or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa wasn’t sure what she meant at first. Finally, after a moment, the congenial blonde let loose a huge cackle, rolling her eyes and lightly swatting Ruby on the upper arm. It occurred to Alexa the moment she made contact that Ruby’s bicep felt huge, and that the tattooed sister of her new man felt as tense as anyone she’d ever been around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wanted to dress to impress to meet Dean’s parents. Did I overdo it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not if you want to look like mid-trial Casey Anthony,” Dean cut in, slowly striding toward Alexa.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Both girls called back incredulously. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, like, after the prosecution had all those dudes testify about what a dumb whore she was and her lawyer made her start dressing like it was her first communion instead of like she was about to play a ‘naughty teacher’ in a porno movie,” Ambrose continued, wry half-smile on his face all the while.  “By the way,” he continued, lowering his voice so his adopted mom wouldn’t hear this next part, “any time you want to dress like you’re gonna be in a porno, I’m okay with it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa rolled her eyes. “That was a REALLY long way around you telling me that I look really hot.” As she spoke, she squeezed Dean’s hand hard enough to let him know that she wasn’t joking about telling her she looked nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look great, babe, I’m just bullshitting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa snickered, raising her eyebrows skeptically. “Uh huh. That’s what I thought.” She raised up on her tiptoes to give Dean a peck on the lips, then noticed the growing number of eyes on the pair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment, Dean broke the awkward silence, turning to his family and sliding an arm around the gorgeous blonde next to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom, Dad, this is Alexa. We met a few weeks ago at the Lambda Chi house and we’re dating now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sika, who to this point had remained mostly silent, choosing instead to simply absorb the experience, spoke up. “And that’s not the house we’re in right now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The entire group shared a laugh. “No,” Dean replied, “if we were at Lambda Chi there’d be ‘Trump 2020’ signs everywhere and the place would smell like old money douchebag and date rape drugs.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roman roared his approval, and Alexa had to stifle a much louder giggle. The half dozen or so folks in the huddle began to ramp up their small talk, while Patricia Reigns weaved in and out from between her family members to make her way to Dean’s new love interest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi, I’m Patricia. I’m Dean’s mom. Adopted mom,” she corrected herself with a wry grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s so nice to meet you!” The pixie exclaimed, before being roughly drawn in for a hug so tight and forceful that Nikki Cross’s embraces seemed casual by comparison. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look very nice, dear,” Patricia returned, looking Alexa up and down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” Alexa lilted brightly. “I’m so glad you all made it. Can I get you a glass of wine or a cocktail?” The tiny blonde checked her incredibly overpriced watch. “It’s after 4 PM, so the bar is officially open.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Patricia pondered this a moment. She didn’t normally drink except on special occasions, but she very much wanted to form some sort of bond with the girl Dean seemed so infatuated with. “I’ll have a margarita with no salt,” she decided aloud, spotting the frozen marg machine that appeared to be operating behind the bar in ZBZ’s cavernous “party room.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Coming right up!” Alexa returned brightly. “Anyone else?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Beer?” Dean requested in a whisper, trying to avoid his adoptive parents finding out he was ordering alcohol. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa winked at him. “I got you, booboo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sika signalled that he’d take one of the giant mugs of island-style lager he saw several of the other dads walking around with. Alexa turned to leave with a bounce in her step. Since she’d started dating, in ninth or tenth grade, the gorgeous young woman prided herself on being the kind of girl every guy’s parents wanted them to bring home. She had a wild side. Anyone who’d spent much time with her knew that. In fact, her most pressing issue that week had been to figure out how to broach the subject of some of her high school escapades with her new love interest. But Alexa Bliss was, all in all, a really good girlfriend. Her boyfriend’s moms usually loved her, and a couple even kept in touch sporadically after the relationships with their respective sons ended. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the night progressed, the overall tone in the room changed from “meet and greet” to “festive gathering.” It seemed that, just as their children often needed, the taxpaying adults in the room needed a chance to relax and cut loose a bit. One thing that mystified Dean was why Alexa’s mom hadn’t made her way over to his family to become acquainted yet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lex?” He began, his mouth just inches from his special friend’s ear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, my dear?” Alexa cooed sweetly, her level of inebriation now driving her overall temperament. Dean was learning quickly that Alexa was generally a happy drunk unless Adam Cole was involved or discussed. It occurred to Dean that Alexa’s ex having any influence on her mood wasn’t generally a good thing, but at the moment the overwhelmed young man was willing to overlook that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When do I get to meet your mom?” He inquired, the faint sense of anxiety beginning to well up in his stomach. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa exhaled deeply, before turning to shoot a long look over to where her mother was dancing with Dr. Cross and a few of the other ZBZ parents. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom is being… complicated... today,” the waifish beauty responded, her buzz wearing off from the serious conversation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is she okay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa sighed again, before taking Ambrose by the hand and leading him over to the bar area. “You remember how I told you about my dad and what a piece of shit he is?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean paused briefly, trying to recall the conversation he’d had that morning. “Yeah, kinda, but I was post-nut and my head was in the clouds a little because I’d just seen the hottest girl in the world naked.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa giggled and rolled her eyes, though inwardly it thrilled her soul to hear Dean talk about how attractive he thought she was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I guess he decided just cheating on my mom with a girl I went to high school with wasn’t enough,” the ZBZ rush chair spat, shaking her head again. Dean furrowed his brow, still unsure of where the conversation was headed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He knocked Jackie up,” Alexa bellowed, a bit annoyed that Dean hadn’t been able to read her mind. “I mean, what the fuck?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean waited a moment to see if Alexa was going to blurt out any additional information before speaking again. “I mean, you said she was pretty happy on her own.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tiny girl paused again as they arrived at the ZBZ service bar. Adeptly, Alexa recalled everyone’s drink order without so much as a single hint from Dean. After she’d finished her conversation with the bartender, Alexa turned back toward her boyfriend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My mom had me pretty young. She was either nineteen or twenty. My dad wanted more kids but for whatever reason, my mom never could complete another pregnancy. She miscarried twice after me and then I guess they stopped trying or whatever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Immediately, Dean’s heart plummeted into his stomach, and his sympathetic nature made him hurt for Monica Bliss. “Shit, Lex, that’s rough.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nodding, the stunning pixie continued. “Yeah. I know they fought about it a lot. Mom wanted to maybe try a surrogate or IVF or something, but dad only wanted a ‘natural conception and birth,’ whatever the fuck that means. It used to upset my mom pretty bad. She felt like a shitty wife because she couldn’t give her husband another baby.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The verbal exchange slowed as Dean and Alexa arrived back where the expansive Reigns family had taken up temporary respite. Passing out libations, the younger Bliss did her best to plaster a happy expression across her face, hoping that no one but Dean would decipher her mood.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Alexa quipped, stopping momentarily from cleaning up the common room at her sorority house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For his part, Dean Ambrose simply sat on the closest sofa, doing his best not to panic at what he’d witnessed earlier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, is your mom going to be okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sighing deeply, her smile falling into a despondent pout, Alexa crossed over to where Dean was sitting and perched herself on his lap, her head coming to rest against his broad chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope so. That was a pretty ugly scene.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silently, as the diminutive beauty did her best to hold back tears, Dean Ambrose recalled the events of the last two hours that had led them into this quiet corner of regret and shame.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>First, there was Alexa’s mom not seeming to want to actually meet her daughter’s boyfriend’s family. It had taken everything in her resolve to get Monica off of the crowded dance floor over to Dean, Patricia, Sika, and the rest of the gang.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The introductory conversation wasn’t anything to write home about, either. In the eight minutes that Alexa’s mother could spare the Reigns gang, she came off as snobbish and aloof, calling Patricia “Pat” (which Dean’s mom HATED) and Sika by six different mispronunciations of his Samoan handle. Ruby, Roman, and Roman’s brother Matt she ignored altogether, offering only a dismissive wave before slinking back to the bar for yet another in an endless train of potent cocktails meant to dull the inner pain she was clearly feeling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so, so sorry, Dean,” Alexa moaned softly, her voice shaky with emotion. “My mom’s been plummeting downhill since dad left, and it’s worse now than ever.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean, unsure of how to honestly assess the evening’s events without hurting Alexa’s feelings, simply rubbed the tiny girl’s sinewy back, hoping desperately to feel her exquisite frame begin to loosen the tension she was clearly feeling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” Dean finally inquired, unsure if he really wanted to know the answer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa exhaled for what felt like the millionth time that evening, shaking her head slightly against Dean’s chest. “I think the pregnancy news was too much. I know she’s carried a LOT of guilt and feelings of inadequacy because she couldn’t give my dad another kid. I think the alcohol plus the emotion got the best of her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I get that,” Dean returned, snuggling Alexa closer to him. “Patricia’s gonna be the only one that doesn’t understand.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexa nodded. “I know. She looked PISSED.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She was,” Dean snickered. “She’s probably back at the hotel right now talking about ‘appropriate behavior for middle aged women’ or something.” Dean immediately regretted those words as he felt Alexa’s lithe form shudder in his arms, fighting back more tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think I’m just gonna go to bed,” Bliss lamented, wiping a tear from her eye. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alexa, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a dick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sultry cheerleader nodded. “I know. It’s not your fault my mom ruined this whole fucking weekend for me. I blame my dad,” she continued, before lightly pecking Dean on the lips. As she did this, she also ran a spritely hand through Dean’s hair, mussing it affectionately. “I just wish you could’ve met her before all this shit with the split up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Me too,” Dean replied sadly. “I guess there’s nothing we can do until after the game tomorrow. I gotta get to the team hotel before ten and I don’t have time to go see Patricia first.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I understand,” Alexa lamented. “I’m so, so sorry about my mom being a drunk idiot. She was never like this before…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It absolutely massacred Dean’s soul to see Alexa so sad. Thinking quickly, the young man attached a verbal addendum to his previous statement;</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe after the game tomorrow you can talk to her. Just you two. And maybe me at the beginning,” Dean added.</span>
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  <span>“I’d like that,” Alexa cooed, her sunkenness beginning to melt away. Glancing over to the ornate clock hanging over the fireplace in the ZBZ sitting room, the tiny blonde pecked Dean on the chin and stood. “But first, I’d like you to come upstairs with me for a quickie and a snuggle. Fair?”</span>
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  <span>Dean nodded enthusiastically, not one to turn down intimate encounters with this flawless creature, though in the back of his mind he was already pondering the next encounter between Alexa and his mother…</span>
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